Deciding whether or not to buy a RB26dett 93 240 Hatch

[Steveb18c]

I found a 240sx with an rb26dett already installed and hes asking for $8000.00 in California. The cars overall condition looks fair according to the pictures, which I will post later on today.
The engine is from an R32 Skyline. He says it runs ok but needs to be tuned.

My biggest question for everyone here, is would it be worth paying $8000.00 for this car or am I better off starting from scratch? Thanks!

[badbob2121]

Depending on the quality of the swap... and the overall condition of the car.. possibly

A good buddy of mine has a rb26 coupe. They are not cheap engines to play with...

Do you plan on registering this in CA? If so, you might want to do some research and ensure you are willing to deal with the hassle of it being "legal" in the horrible, horrible state you live in....


It would help if you posted pictures...

[Steveb18c]

I am still waiting on the pictures to be posted to my email. It also has an s15 conversion but the paint on the car doesnt look too good. I have never worked on the Rb26dett but I can imagine it is no cheap build. I was planning on rebuilding the engine to handle 450 whp.

[Zeifer]

I am still waiting on the pictures to be posted to my email. It also has an s15 conversion but the paint on the car doesnt look too good. I have never worked on the Rb26dett but I can imagine it is no cheap build. I was planning on rebuilding the engine to handle 450 whp.

Provided the engine is in good condition, you won't need a rebuild at all to reach 450 with a RB26. They produce a lot of power easily, but they're on the expensive side. Carl told me a RB26 would be overkill for my goal of 400whp.

[Steveb18c]

How much is on the expensive side? I am just glad its already installed and everything. Ill try to get more details and post them when I receive the information.

[Zeifer]

How much is on the expensive side? I am just glad its already installed and everything. Ill try to get more details and post them when I receive the information.

From what I read and see people talk about, the RB26 is the most expensive RB to deal with because parts are harder to get.

Provided the motor is in good condition, 450whp should be easy. Depending on the turbo setup, you can probably just up the boost and hit 450. RB26's can take a lot of power on stock internals. Just make sure everything works right. That's the most important step.

[Jabberwocky]

If it were me I would leave it alone. That's a fairly complicated and expensive swap, same thing with the s15 conversion, and there is the potential for a lot of issues to arise. The biggest PITA is trying to reverse engineer someone else's work to troubleshoot and fix a problem.

The only way I would remotely consider it is if it were done by a reputable shop and the owner could produce all the documentation for the build. Another thing to seriously consider is what badbob brought up...is it going to pass inspection and/or emissions so you can even tag it?

If you have 8000 to play with, are lusting for an s chassis, and have a reliable mode of transportation now I would consider all of my options (RB, SR, KA, yadda yadda) and then make the decision after researching and knowing exactly what you want.

[Steveb18c]

How much do you think it would cost to start from scratch? Just from what you have read or experienced?

[Steveb18c]

If it were me I would leave it alone. That's a fairly complicated and expensive swap, same thing with the s15 conversion, and there is the potential for a lot of issues to arise. The biggest PITA is trying to reverse engineer someone else's work to troubleshoot and fix a problem.

The only way I would remotely consider it is if it were done by a reputable shop and the owner could produce all the documentation for the build. Another thing to seriously consider is what badbob brought up...is it going to pass inspection and/or emissions so you can even tag it?

If you have 8000 to play with, are lusting for an s chassis, and have a reliable mode of transportation now I would consider all of my options (RB, SR, KA, yadda yadda) and then make the decision after researching and knowing exactly what you want.

Yea you're absolutely right about that one. What makes it even harder for me is I am currently working in Afghanistan and I cannot see it for myself, I was going to have a really good friend look at it, but from the description he even told me to stay away from it. I just wanted to see how expensive this swap could actually turn up to be. And as for the California State Inspection, I was planning on registering it in Nevada. CA SUCKS for emissions. Anyways, thanks for the response.

[Jabberwocky]

How much do you think it would cost to start from scratch? Just from what you have read or experienced?

I couldn't give you a very accurate estimate, but I can say that while researching and deciding what I wanted to do I pretty much ruled out the RB26 because of cost/part availability. I teetered between RB25 and KA-T before I talked to Ivan from KA-T.org (back when he was still at PhatKAT, lol) and he pretty much sold me on the KA.

Buying things sight unseen scares me. I bought my lifted QX4 a couple years back without thoroughly looking over it and it was a HUGE mistake. Looked like they installed the lift and did other mods with "Baby's First Craftsman Tool Set".

[Steveb18c]

Ha yea I hear that. How much horsepower are you producing with your KA-T?

[Jabberwocky]

It's not running yet, still need to adjust the fuel pressure, get it in time and see what the afr is gonna be, then I'm gonna take it to the dyno and have the safc tuned.

I'm only running 10lb to start, but I eventually wanna work my way up to the 4-500hp range. My build thread is in 240sx general...kens 91 resto/Kat build if you wanna check it out.

[Steveb18c]

Aright. Thanks

[Lobo240sx]

2JZ ftw. RB is a temperamental and expensive engine to play with.

[Zeifer]

2JZ ftw. RB is a temperamental and expensive engine to play with.

2JZ doesn't sound as cool as a 1JZ or RB. :P

[300ZXttZMAN]

Depending on the quality of the swap... and the overall condition of the car.. possibly

A good buddy of mine has a rb26 coupe. They are not cheap engines to play with...

Do you plan on registering this in CA? If so, you might want to do some research and ensure you are willing to deal with the hassle of it being "legal" in the horrible, horrible state you live in....


It would help if you posted pictures...

[HerePiggyPiggy]

Save that $8000 and buy a nice clean s13, rebuild and turbo the KA. Keep all the old stock stuff so you can smog your car since, we are in California. you can build a pretty sick KA-T with $8000 if you know what youre doing. Leave that RB for someone else to fix.

[Jabberwocky]

In CA if the car is 20+ years old can you get historic tags and skip inspection and emissions all together? That's why I stuck with a 91, because there's no way mine would pass either.

[lovehateRBrelations]

How much is on the expensive side? I am just glad its already installed and everything. Ill try to get more details and post them when I receive the information.

To me 8k sounds a bit steep. The thing is no matter which RB you have they are all expensive. This is especially true with the older models like the r32. Just in my experience they will nickle and dime you to death. Before you could even begin the upgrades there are so many things that need to be checked/replaced and its all bookoo bucks $$. Just little things like fixing the crank collar issue the early model rb engines had (which is highly necessary) involves buying the extended collar which is about $120 then taking the engine apart to take out the crank, have the extended collar put on the crank and assemble. They are real sweet engines but you gotta know what your in for, i knicknamed my car "the money pit" lol.