**My RB20DET s13 Project**

[240SXinTX]

Well i have decided to create a thread for my RB20DET project. I am swapping it into my 89 240sx. Although I have swapped an Eagle Talon motor and done lots of work on my RSX TypeS turbo, this will be first Nissan ever. I caught the RWD bug after driving my chicks Corvette.... After i bought this car, i started looking around here... A lot... I went though all the stages people go through.. first i wanted an sr, but then I thought, "Hmmm.. I wana do something different, something sick.. So here I am.. I also plan to use this thread to ask questions and get help along the way.. Lastly I hope this thread helps out anyone else doing this swap.

Lots of threads on here are very informational, but many lack pics, so im gonna give you guys lots of pics.. and noobs, feel free to throw down ur questions here, i wont flame you....

Day one:I meet the car.... 300 bucks ain't bad...

My buddy told me that this thing was towable... now to me that meant that i could strap a pickup to it and pull it home. So i get about one block down the street, and what happens? One of the wheels locks up! It later turned out that the stock size is 15" and for some reason he put a 14" wheel on it... No biggy...

AAA to the rescue!!



So i finally get her home and pop the hood:



A few things that I know at this point of the project...Someone used this car to do a 5spd conversion on their car so I have no master cylinder, slave cylinder, clutch pedal assembly, transmission, or drive shaft... this will present an issue later in my build, but first, i gotta get this engine bay stripped...

I started by getting the radiator, fan shroud, power steering, a/c, and pretty much everything that connects the motor to the chassis out, including the harness.





Now before I went crazy and pulled the motor, i decided to start getting the parts needed to get her back to 5spd status. I got everything they have at OReilly's for it. I will have to get the rest new or from a junk yard. The part list is available at http://www.heavythrottle.com. they also sell some of the parts, a very good source...

Shown here is my Master cylinder, Slave cylinder, and the lower clutch line. Ill have the get the upper one and the clutch pedal assembly from heavy throttle....

Modified by 240SXinTX at 4:04 PM 9/27/2007

Modified by 240SXinTX at 4:19 PM 9/27/2007
Modified by 240SXinTX at 4:19 PM 9/27/2007

[240SXinTX]

Now, at this point I was ready to pull the motor. this is about two weeks after i got the car. So i got my buddies hoist, and pulled her into the garage... The engine pull was pretty straight forward, especially since it had no transmission.... Two mounts and she was out.. here are some pics....



Notice the sleepy eye on this one??









Hmm.. wonder how the long the car sat before the bugs made their nest on the motor??



Every man should have a picture of himself in an empty engine bay before he dies... at least thats my opinion...



The day after i pulled it out, i started taking off the bumper and clearing out any remnants of the a/c or p/s since i will be running neither.



Motor got in today, here are some pics:





Okay guys update: Sept. 29:I got the MAFS and the driveshaft, clutch pedal assembly, and the transmission crossmember. The MAFS came from JDM engine depot and the rest came from the junk yard... All I need is mounts and the harness done and I can put her in!!!

The MAFS (not a full picture, but you get the idea):



The driveshaft and clutch pedal:


Modified by 240SXinTX at 2:44 PM 9/29/2007

[240SXinTX]

Alright everybody, here are some pics of the install and after the motor is in!! I still need to finish up some things and i had a problem with the transmission mount not lining up properly, but the motor is secured.

The motor went in "pretty well." Now i say pretty well in qoutes because i did have some issues. you cant really tell in the pic, but i had to cut my front support a little bit to get the motor in. I am referring to the part that supports the radiator. Now i know that you can remove this, but i found it easier to make two small cuts, bend the part down to clear my a/c compressor, and then bend it back up after the motor was in.

I ended up getting mounts from MC Kinney Motorsports and i have to say that overall I am very pleased with them. I got the mounts about 4 days after I ordered them and when I called to check on the status of my order they were very helpful. Fittiment of the mounts: The mounts fit pretty well, although they did not have a "L" or "R" to designate what was left and right, so at first i had some issues figuring out what went where, and also the transmission cross member did not line up properly, so I am having some trouble getting it secured, but still, the mounts worked out prettly well overall I would say.I would recommend Mc Kinney to someone else. from what I can tell, they are pretty reputable around here.

One more thing to comment on, I was actually able to fit my 02 sensor housing on the turbo after the motor was installed. I had to remove it to put the motor in, but once it was in, I was able to put it back on.

Sorry but these are phone pics of the install:





Right about here im thinking "Oh crap what have I done? Did I really think I could get this massive motor into this little car? I am an idiot..."

But it all worked out:









And i thought that it would look sweet flat black... come on, its a project car:



I finished the primer job finally, here are some pics:




Modified by 240SXinTX at 9:56 AM 10/19/2007

[240SXinTX]

reserved for pics... sorry, but i hate scrolling through build threads trying to get to the good stuff...

Down here I will always keep a running total of my costs:Project: 24089 Nissan 240sx - 300Tow home - 36Car cover - 35Master cylinder - 17.99Slave cylinder - 14.19Clutch hose - 11.99Two Tires - 50One Steel Wheel - 43.30RB20DET - 1489.00Drive Shaft, clutch pedal assembly, transmission crossmember, warrenty - 103.00**** INCOMPLETE DRIVE SHAFT!!!!Primer - 50Shipping, package, and Carl's price for harness splicing - 344.07

Current total: 2494.54
Modified by 240SXinTX at 3:34 PM 10/15/2007

[AxiOn419]

Hey, nice journal you got going here. One question though, why no power steering?? If you dont have a working pump they arent too hard to find. I just got a replacement one for my wrecked engine. I have a spare bracket if you need one. I see you recommended heavythrottle, a lot of people do. As for the "noobs throwing down questions", seems like everyone here knows what they are talking about already

[240SXinTX]

Hey, nice journal you got going here. One question though, why no power steering?? If you dont have a working pump they arent too hard to find. I just got a replacement one for my wrecked engine. I have a spare bracket if you need one. I see you recommended heavythrottle, a lot of people do. As for the "noobs throwing down questions", seems like everyone here knows what they are talking about already

ya i know most people on here know what they are talking about, but i have also seen some noobs get flamed to holly heck on here too... i hate to see that stuff. I know that they should search and all that, but i want this thread to be a safe haven....

as for power steering: I really dont have a real reason not to run it.. i have my reservoir and i think my rb will have a working pump.... it just seemed easier to run without it.. less to mess with. besides, this going to be a weekend/track car so im not in crazy need of p/s

[AxiOn419]

ya i know most people on here know what they are talking about, but i have also seen some noobs get flamed to holly heck on here too... i hate to see that stuff. I know that they should search and all that, but i want this thread to be a safe haven....

as for power steering: I really dont have a real reason not to run it.. i have my reservoir and i think my rb will have a working pump.... it just seemed easier to run without it.. less to mess with. besides, this going to be a weekend/track car so im not in crazy need of p/s

Adding power steering is such a small step when compared to the whole engine swap process though. I drove a car with no power steering for a while and honestly, it isnt so bad once you are up to speed but at low speed it just sucks. I can understand not adding A/C but the power steering? No way! It would suck if later on down the road you wanted to have power steering but couldnt because you removed all the lines and pump, that would blow. Just trying to talk you into it

[240SXinTX]

hmmm you are giving me a lot to think about.... ill take a look at it when the motor gets here....

Okay, my first bump in the road:I am trying to decide what to do about my harness. I can either have Carl H or wiringspecialties.com do it, or i can do it myself. Now, i think i could handle it if i had an instructional vid or something, and i am already getting the RB25 swap dvd. So does anyone know if the RB25 and RB20 wiring is the same? Thanks.

[nizmo zilvia]

Everythings looking good.

[240SXinTX]

^^^ Thanks...

Anyone know about the wiring?

[craz4240]

I'd get Carl H to do it it's gonna be the best price and the best job,if your to broke to do so I think i have an rb20 to s13 tutorial on my computer somewhere,but these guides are just basic.....Carl H wires in things that the tutorials don't even speak of...like windsheild wipers for example and other things.

[240SXinTX]

Ya i am strongly considering that at this point.

[craz4240]

Let me know if your looking to do it yourself..I don't suggest it as i just spent a month re-wiring my whole car cause of what someone else did but if you can't afford it I can get ya started.

[240SXinTX]

Craz240,

I really really want to do this myself, but the whole thing is so overwhelming... i think i am missing my transmission harness... im not even sure... is it connected to the main engine harness?

also, all of these how-to's on the wiring, they lack pictures, it just confuses me more then it helps it most cases... if you can get me started, it would really help. like how many wires need to be spliced TOTAL? and the write ups had me confused on what parts of what harness' are used. Thanks.

anything you can throw at me would be greatly appreciated. thanks.

[240SXinTX]

got the motor today!!! finally!!!! i posted some pics.. enjoy!

I bought the motor from an ebayer named jdmenginedepot. overall i am very satisfied with the process, extremely fast shipping and the motor looks very clean. I recommend them to anyone.

[jrd450r]

got the motor today!!! finally!!!! i posted some pics.. enjoy!

I bought the motor from an ebayer named jdmenginedepot. overall i am very satisfied with the process, extremely fast shipping and the motor looks very clean. I recommend them to anyone.

Ive been to their warehouse before their decent people to deal with. I got my motor set from them and was really happy with it. I would suggest going there in person though so you could pick out exactly which motor you wanted because some looked a lot better than others. They also gave me a z32 maf instead of a rb25 maf which kind of pissed me off, and they tried to charge me extra for a maf, but after some hassling I got it in the deal.

[240SXinTX]

they didnt even send me a maf.... I need one!!!

[DriftX]

Cool!

Wiring is pretty easy, u really shouldn't be intimiadated by it. All you need is power to ecu, ignition relay, ecu memory, and fuel pump relay. There are a few dash plugs, but they match up according to color

[240SXinTX]

^^ not to sure bout it man... i am really intimidated by the wiring.... i really want this thing to run good without me having to troubleshoot my wiring...

[Carl H]

lol, no they dont...there are several wires with diffrent functions but same jacketing...

...There are few dash plugs, but they match up according to color

[240SXinTX]

^^Carl, what is your schedule like right now? I am ready to have my harness done. The only thing is i think i am lacking both lower harness' Is that a huge problem? Thank.s

[DriftX]

lol, no they dont...there are several wires with diffrent functions but same jacketing...

oh yea, i just read what i typed, there are some that are the same color, but lots of wires don't even to be hooked up. Just listen to carl, he knows his stuff. I saw some of his harnesses off another forum and they look fantastic. I regret not sending mine to him.

please clean/paint your engine bay. It will take a little while, but it will look sweet when your done.

good luck, keep us updated.

[240SXinTX]

thanks, ive been thinking of flat blacking it.....

and i emailed carl about doing my harness.. im going to get the proper maf even it takes forever. i wana do this right the first time...

[240SXinTX]

Modified by 240SXinTX at 2:41 PM 9/29/2007

[ca18datsun510]

you're missing the front part of your driveshaft.

just letting you know so you are not surprised.

also, i have bought quite a few engines and other things from engine depot, good guys.

[240SXinTX]

crap, am i missing the center bearing that comes out of the end of it?

[ca18datsun510]

no the center bearing is there.

you are missing the rubber gebo, and the front spline that goes into the trans.

[240SXinTX]

Does that part just unbolt from the drive shaft?

[DriftX]

it's like a triangulated piece that has grommets inside to absorb vibration i believe.

[240SXinTX]

hmm.. so do you guys think i can pull that piece off of another drive shaft at the junk yard, or do i need to get another complete drive shaft?