my first rb26 swap on my 300zx

[MYFAIRLADYZX32]

Hi I'm new on NICO I own a 1990 300zx automatic and we'll it's my first car and I want to go big by swapping a RB26 in it i know it's going to be a automatic to manual conversion but I don't mind I really want this thing to go big so I wanted to know what type of stuff will i need for this type of swap/project or any suggestions or recommendations will be fine just need some help I'm kinda new at this

[NolimitZ32]

[DCaff300ZX]

What you are talking about is well beyond anyone "who is kinda new at this", and needs much help with anything other than locating/buying specific parts from someone.
First thing they'd know is an AT and RB won't be happening, and then there's SOOOOOOOOOOO much more...Good Luck!

[NolimitZ32]

This question has been coming up a lot lately and it ends the same every time, with crushed dreams so I say we need a crushed dreams emoticon.

[MYFAIRLADYZX32]

Well i know it's hard but not impossible I have the money to get a complete RB26 engine with transmission I just need to know if it will fit in the 300zx I've heard it bolts right in but there are always issues with the mounting brackets and it's a tight space that might lead to some space clearance and please If you have negative stuff to say please keep it to too yourself

[ThisIsSparTTa]

We're just trying to be realistic. The Z32 already probably isn't best for your first car. And then you're trying to shoot to the moon doing a complex swap. Take our advice or not, but yea, anyways, do some searching first and tell us what you find.

[MYFAIRLADYZX32]

Well I've done quite a few research on the swap there's a couple swap kits out there but I'm not so sure about them and plus I know it's hard but not impossible all advice is taken into consideration don't get me wrong but I am committed into getting this project done i just don't know if i should buy the engine first or do other stuff to the car before I get the engine

[MYFAIRLADYZX32]

This kit caught my eye I've been doing quite the research on it anyone know of someone that has actually used this?
http://mckinneymotorsports.com/prod_300zx+RB+SWAP

[Hackysac300zx]

I hope you have over 15k ready to dump into this…just saying you can get a 700hp vgtt for half that…I was just like you…had an rb25 ready to go…till i actually looked at it realistically…not worth it…I understand the want to be different and to show it off…however if you're not doing the work yourself and not building the motor up at all…be prepared to shell out a lot of cash…

[MYFAIRLADYZX32]

Yes i understand what you are saying and yes i want my z to be unique not just another twin turbo 300zx you know? And about getting a 700 hp vgtt for less i imagine you have you put a lot of stuff to get it to 700 hp with the RB and couple bolt ons and you can easily make 400 hp and yes i understand the money issue and all i just need to know what stuff will i need for the swap

[DCaff300ZX]

Well i know it's hard but not impossible I have the money to get a complete RB26 engine with transmission I just need to know if it will fit in the 300zx I've heard it bolts right in but there are always issues with the mounting brackets and it's a tight space that might lead to some space clearance and please If you have negative stuff to say please keep it to too yourself

Not trying to be mean or anything, just realistic. As mentioned above there are many people that have wanted an RB in their Z, and like myself at one time even had most everything lined up...but it is a very complicated and expensive swap, plus needs someone involved who is a relative guru with the RB to make everything work correctly given the need of a standalone ECU and MANY custom bits and pieces.
Therefore a realistic RB swap thread is USUALLY someone telling us what they are doing, how, and showing that they have experience with such things (or has someone involved who has) rather than someone asking about how/where/if...

[MYFAIRLADYZX32]

Well i found a place here in Indiana that does does types of swaps plus more I'll be trying to reach 400hp at first then later on 800hp I will be posting pics about the swap as soon as The ball starts rolling.

[ZL8NING]

Good luck with the endeavor! We'll be waiting on the pictures and updates.

Subscribing.

[MYFAIRLADYZX32]

Thanks man its going to take a while but I'm in no rush I have to go too Ohio and pick up the R33 RB26DETT engine first.

[DCaff300ZX]

Swap shop sounds like a great start especially if they have plenty of RB experience, good luck and keep us posted!

[MYFAIRLADYZX32]

Swap shop sounds like a great start especially if they have plenty of RB experience, good luck and keep us posted!

Yeah i got referred to them by a guy at my job they seem pretty popular in the area and the guy Ben the one I talked too seemed pretty knowledgeable about the RB they said they could do the swap for me and how much power did i want out of it and all just that it's going too take time cus of some pieces that will be needed for the swap this is the website link
http://www.fathousefab.com/engine-swaps/

[DCaff300ZX]

Shop seems legit, and their welder does nice looking work. But I didn't see any Nissans among their posted work so I'd be a little worried about parts sourcing and compatibility issues that a Nissan specialist would have less trouble with.

[MYFAIRLADYZX32]

Shop seems legit, and their welder does nice looking work. But I didn't see any Nissans among their posted work so I'd be a little worried about parts sourcing and compatibility issues that a Nissan specialist would have less trouble with.

That's what I said and the shop is pretty popular in the area so I figured I might try them out and we'll Ben the guy I talked to said
He already sees that a few companies make nice swap parts for them.  Nice wiring harness and motor mounts they can use. So for now I'm going to take his word for it he seems like he knows what he is talking about

[NolimitZ32]

You seem to be in fairly good spirits and open to suggestions so I'll play nice. As you asked me in your other thread where does the other $23k come from?

Here it is-
Engine management/tuning: $500 (if you know HEX better than English and can rewire the harness yourself) - $4000 (if you go all out standalone with wiring, setup and tune) so averages to roughly $2k
Cooling system: $500-$1000 (depending on how elaborate you want to get)
Exhaust: $1000+ (Custom from the turbo/turbos all the way to the tips)
Intercooler & piping: $1000+ (once again all custom)
Misc. metal fab work: $1000+ (the RB was never meant to fit so cutting, beating, welding and cursing will be required)
Install of the whole shebang: $4000 (guess as labor prices differ greatly)

So you are thinking, hey that's only $10k. If you are buying a RB or any used engine there are certain things that should be changed to new before installation unless you want s*** to start breaking right after you get her running, here's that list:

New oil pump: $300 something IIRC
New waterpump & timing kit: $500
All new gaskets/seals kit: $300
Turbos: $200 (if they are good and just need to be cleaned & inspected, balance checked) $3000 if you need new ones
Clutch: $500-$700 for a basic exedy or southbend that will hold the power, want to go fancy? $3500
Flywheel: Using factory? $100 to machine and balance, want something better $300-$1000 depending on how nice.
Misc bolts, nuts, gaskets, sealants, hoses, couplers, sensors, maintenance items (spark plugs, oils, lubes, filters, etc) $500+ before its all said and done.
Labor to do all that: $2000 if you're lucky.

That's about $16.5k all in, this is assuming that the engine you get is in good condition with good compression, good working accessories (A/C, alt, PS pump, etc.) and that the car doesn't need anything like wheel bearings, seals, PS rack, PS lines, A/C Lines, trans & power harnesses, so on and so forth. If you are planning on swapping a non native engine that's 15+ years old into a car that's 20+ years old and you want to be happy with it a the end and not have a decade long headache on your hands than you need to do all these things together because a Z32 with an RB26 and bad wheel-bearings isn't going to go very far or very safely. I know this because I stared my TT swap when I was 19, when I didn't know any better, now 9 years later, I have pulled the engine 3 times, rebuilt it twice, spent countless hours under in and around the car fixing other s*** that kept it off the road. All that and in the last 7 years the car has done under 6000 miles. About 4500 of those have been since the last rebuild since I stopped being stubborn and tightened my belt, ate ramen for 2 years, worked my a** off and spent what needed to be spent, now the car is fairly reliable and capable of ~600 rwhp (as soon as I spend $1000 on the 720cc injectors and bits that is). Mind you its rolling on stock wheels, stock springs, stock brakes, with a ehh-sososhitty custom 3" CBE that I had made on the cheap just to stay legal for the time being. My point is this: You can do it cheap, hell you could probably get away with spending under $10k on it and having the car start and drive but it wont be the car you want and it wont be on the road for long before you are forced to either sell it as a failed project or dump an insurmountable amount of money into it at even intervals just to keep it safe and running. I am not the only one that has learned the hard way although being as hard headed as I am I think I've had one of the most "colorful" experience.

[MYFAIRLADYZX32]

You seem to be in fairly good spirits and open to suggestions so I'll play nice. As you asked me in your other thread where does the other $23k come from?

Here it is-
Engine management/tuning: $500 (if you know HEX better than English and can rewire the harness yourself) - $4000 (if you go all out standalone with wiring, setup and tune) so averages to roughly $2k
Cooling system: $500-$1000 (depending on how elaborate you want to get)
Exhaust: $1000+ (Custom from the turbo/turbos all the way to the tips)
Intercooler & piping: $1000+ (once again all custom)
Misc. metal fab work: $1000+ (the RB was never meant to fit so cutting, beating, welding and cursing will be required)
Install of the whole shebang: $4000 (guess as labor prices differ greatly)

So you are thinking, hey that's only $10k. If you are buying a RB or any used engine there are certain things that should be changed to new before installation unless you want s*** to start breaking right after you get her running, here's that list:

New oil pump: $300 something IIRC
New waterpump & timing kit: $500
All new gaskets/seals kit: $300
Turbos: $200 (if they are good and just need to be cleaned & inspected, balance checked) $3000 if you need new ones
Clutch: $500-$700 for a basic exedy or southbend that will hold the power, want to go fancy? $3500
Flywheel: Using factory? $100 to machine and balance, want something better $300-$1000 depending on how nice.
Misc bolts, nuts, gaskets, sealants, hoses, couplers, sensors, maintenance items (spark plugs, oils, lubes, filters, etc) $500+ before its all said and done.
Labor to do all that: $2000 if you're lucky.

That's about $16.5k all in, this is assuming that the engine you get is in good condition with good compression, good working accessories (A/C, alt, PS pump, etc.) and that the car doesn't need anything like wheel bearings, seals, PS rack, PS lines, A/C Lines, trans & power harnesses, so on and so forth. If you are planning on swapping a non native engine that's 15+ years old into a car that's 20+ years old and you want to be happy with it a the end and not have a decade long headache on your hands than you need to do all these things together because a Z32 with an RB26 and bad wheel-bearings isn't going to go very far or very safely. I know this because I stared my TT swap when I was 19, when I didn't know any better, now 9 years later, I have pulled the engine 3 times, rebuilt it twice, spent countless hours under in and around the car fixing other s*** that kept it off the road. All that and in the last 7 years the car has done under 6000 miles. About 4500 of those have been since the last rebuild since I stopped being stubborn and tightened my belt, ate ramen for 2 years, worked my a** off and spent what needed to be spent, now the car is fairly reliable and capable of ~600 rwhp (as soon as I spend $1000 on the 720cc injectors and bits that is). Mind you its rolling on stock wheels, stock springs, stock brakes, with a ehh-sososhitty custom 3" CBE that I had made on the cheap just to stay legal for the time being. My point is this: You can do it cheap, hell you could probably get away with spending under $10k on it and having the car start and drive but it wont be the car you want and it wont be on the road for long before you are forced to either sell it as a failed project or dump an insurmountable amount of money into it at even intervals just to keep it safe and running. I am not the only one that has learned the hard way although being as hard headed as I am I think I've had one of the most "colorful" experience.

Thanks for the list man really needed that and well as I told the guys at fathouse fabrications here in Indiana my main goal right now is to get that RB26DETT in the Z32 right and try to reach 400hp at first then later spike it to 800hp the labor will cost me around 3300 grand the engine cost me 4000 so I already know it's going to cost me quite a large amount of money but me being hard headed I don't care i really want to go all the way with this build i know i will have to be patient because it is not going to be done in a week lol plus I'm a skyline fan also but skylines are hard to come around so why not have the heart of a skyline in the sexy body of a Z32? but as soon as the ball starts rolling on this i will be posting updates and pictures.

[NolimitZ32]

Not a problem, just want you to know its not all clear cut and there are lots of little gremlins hiding along the way which will end up costing lots. Also, best piece of advice I can give surrounding the whole idea/issue of having a powerful toy: go buy a slow, dependable, cheap to maintain daily because the Z32 will never be your daily again if you go through with this and honestly you wont want it be.

[MYFAIRLADYZX32]

Oh yeah I know this is a very complex and complicated build i know that for sure from all the research even way before I got cherry (that's my Z32) I knew it was going to be a tough road to get to where I want her to be but it's not impossible if a 2jz can be put in a Z32 then an RB can too and I'm already riding a moped while cherry is parked waiting to get this ball rolling but thanks for the advice I really appreciate it man.

[NolimitZ32]

Any time man. Just make sure you don't pop that cherry. Hahahaha sorry had to.

[MYFAIRLADYZX32]

Any time man. Just make sure you don't pop that cherry. Hahahaha sorry had to.

Hahaha nah with this whole build she won't be getting any action for quite a while.

[DCaff300ZX]

You seem to be in fairly good spirits and open to suggestions so I'll play nice. As you asked me in your other thread where does the other $23k come from?

Here it is-
Engine management/tuning: $500 (if you know HEX better than English and can rewire the harness yourself) - $4000 (if you go all out standalone with wiring, setup and tune) so averages to roughly $2k
Cooling system: $500-$1000 (depending on how elaborate you want to get)
Exhaust: $1000+ (Custom from the turbo/turbos all the way to the tips)
Intercooler & piping: $1000+ (once again all custom)
Misc. metal fab work: $1000+ (the RB was never meant to fit so cutting, beating, welding and cursing will be required)
Install of the whole shebang: $4000 (guess as labor prices differ greatly)

So you are thinking, hey that's only $10k. If you are buying a RB or any used engine there are certain things that should be changed to new before installation unless you want s*** to start breaking right after you get her running, here's that list:

New oil pump: $300 something IIRC
New waterpump & timing kit: $500
All new gaskets/seals kit: $300
Turbos: $200 (if they are good and just need to be cleaned & inspected, balance checked) $3000 if you need new ones
Clutch: $500-$700 for a basic exedy or southbend that will hold the power, want to go fancy? $3500
Flywheel: Using factory? $100 to machine and balance, want something better $300-$1000 depending on how nice.
Misc bolts, nuts, gaskets, sealants, hoses, couplers, sensors, maintenance items (spark plugs, oils, lubes, filters, etc) $500+ before its all said and done.
Labor to do all that: $2000 if you're lucky.

That's about $16.5k all in, this is assuming that the engine you get is in good condition with good compression, good working accessories (A/C, alt, PS pump, etc.) and that the car doesn't need anything like wheel bearings, seals, PS rack, PS lines, A/C Lines, trans & power harnesses, so on and so forth. If you are planning on swapping a non native engine that's 15+ years old into a car that's 20+ years old and you want to be happy with it a the end and not have a decade long headache on your hands than you need to do all these things together because a Z32 with an RB26 and bad wheel-bearings isn't going to go very far or very safely. I know this because I stared my TT swap when I was 19, when I didn't know any better, now 9 years later, I have pulled the engine 3 times, rebuilt it twice, spent countless hours under in and around the car fixing other s*** that kept it off the road. All that and in the last 7 years the car has done under 6000 miles. About 4500 of those have been since the last rebuild since I stopped being stubborn and tightened my belt, ate ramen for 2 years, worked my a** off and spent what needed to be spent, now the car is fairly reliable and capable of ~600 rwhp (as soon as I spend $1000 on the 720cc injectors and bits that is). Mind you its rolling on stock wheels, stock springs, stock brakes, with a ehh-sososhitty custom 3" CBE that I had made on the cheap just to stay legal for the time being. My point is this: You can do it cheap, hell you could probably get away with spending under $10k on it and having the car start and drive but it wont be the car you want and it wont be on the road for long before you are forced to either sell it as a failed project or dump an insurmountable amount of money into it at even intervals just to keep it safe and running. I am not the only one that has learned the hard way although being as hard headed as I am I think I've had one of the most "colorful" experience.

Glad you did this Anton, I just couldn't be so specific and didn't want to crush the young man's spirit either.
I really hope he's able to see it through to the end and get a happy result although I still think he'd be best off with a RB swap shop that has experience with some of the RB issues which would save the OP MUCH trouble and heartache tying it all together.
One thing my swap guy talked to me about is to think about using an RB25, which allows use of Nistune for engine management/tuning and not be forced to go standalone, which saves a grand or so right there with similar performance plus you can troubleshoot your own problems.

[MYFAIRLADYZX32]

Quick question for everyone I've trying all morning to install a kenwood radio that had cane with the car but the owner took it out a rewired all the wires color to color but there are some that are left out plus I don't know where the ground wire goes i tried plugging it back in turned the car on but no radio no power so if anyone can tell me where I went wrong it would be great

[DCaff300ZX]

Hmmmm, well here's a small lesson in what you face with your swap.
The Z32 has a stock Bose sound system that has to be accounted for with your stereo wiring- either using it with a Bose connector and system that works with that, or wiring your own system custom without using the stock wiring.
Search out the stereo wiring info here and elsewhere for more there, I'm definitely NOT a stereo or electrical guy sorry...

[MYFAIRLADYZX32]

Yeah I've searched it up. It's a kenwood radio I've heard it's a pretty easy install but haven't been able to get power on it and. I really don't want to go best buy and pay them.

[NolimitZ32]

Easiest way is to hook into the factory harness for power (look up in the FSM for colors I don't remember since its been years) and then run your own wire through the car to each of the 4 speakers, you can cut and splice the factory wires that run to each of the 4 amps directly into the speaker but they are tiny wires and not the optimal size for running a powered signal.

[Hackysac300zx]

Tay here in Dallas…whose the "nissan guru" round these parts and the only guy ill let touch my cars…has done countless sr/rb/jz swaps into 240s and even has an rb26 in his personal s14 zenki…quoted me 10k for a running rb25 swap…and thats with me supplying the engine…I wish you luck my friend…its def something i wanted to do but just could not justify the cost...