My S13 "Silvia" RB20 project! (w/ lots of pics!)

[CA18Magic]

So, heres the deal.. i'm half way through my swap. So i'm going to post everything from my NWN thread.

Alright, here she is! 1992 240sx Coupe, undergoing some surgery. Sucks cuz I recently just replaced valve stem seals about 2,000 miles ago and fixed a smoking issue. Oh well, what can you do... buy a replacement RB20 lol. Here are some pics before compression loss in cylinder 3.

This will be my second build, unfortunately had to sell it almost right after it was done. I feel it was worth it though because it helped give my wife and I a beautiful wedding... awwww. Babe, if you're reading this... you still owe me. lol Here are some pics of her, 93 240sx Hatchback CA18DET, the mini RB

The motor pulled great, super smooth... Alright, i'm done living in the past. Time to get this done

[CA18Magic]

First day I got her (dad's checking it out) Gave the wheels to my sister, for her red s13 coupe lolWorking fogsMy Suby, and my Coupe... Sister's and mine..custom catback with a welded on Blitz Nur spec muffler (Which i am selling since the pipe is 2.5 inchBetter angle of the exhaust2.5" Mandrel bend and coated with ceramic header paint. Very cleanly done and sounds great on the KA. Again, FOR SALE! PM me.Interior is pretty clean, haha automatic! Not for long...Dirty engine bay... Notice how the valve cover is super clean lol, painted it when I did the valve stem seals.. Just need to remove radiator and few minor things and away with the KA

Thats if for now, still waiting for my motor to come in. Few more hours or so haha. Scheduled for delivery here shortly! I'll update tonight with pics of the crate.

[CA18Magic]

Haha! It came, right on time. Overall, great packaging no damage to the motor and everything is accounted for. I was pretty surprised that they sent the complete wiring for the car. Nothing was cut. My last swap pretty much sucked for wiring. Maf is super clean, ecu looks good. I am definitely content. Now for the picsDont mind the rusty old engine hoist... its still works ok?!Mounted on the standClutch and flywheel still have life on them. But gonna swap it out anyways..No damage, woot woot!Taking it apart tomorrow

[CA18Magic]

Alight, a little more progress today. Only had an hour or so to work on it. Stripped the exhaust side of the block. Found a small problem though. One of the exhaust studs was broken off. So i'll have to extract it. Turbo has barely any shaft play and spins smooth and freely, which doesnt really matter cuz i'm upgrading that as well. No oil in the intake/throttle body which is a plus. Timing belt is still good, but i'll probably switch that out along with water pump. Still waiting for a bunch of aftermarket parts, i'll post those as they come in. But here's some pics from today.





Cams are good, little to no scoring. No oil buildup or sludge. Clean

Ready to clean and paint

Why do some RB20 cam covers have the embossed RB20 on it, and some dont? Tried to google it but nothing. Maybe one is from HCR32 and the other from a Cefiro?


A little cleaner

[CA18Magic]

So today was a semi productive day. Continued cleaning some parts, painted the cam covers and cam cover. Also cleaned stock exhaust manifold and coated it with high temp ceramic header paint. I opted out of the stainless steel manifold... whhhhich may change down the road lol. Tomorrow I'm planning on cleaning the oem intake pipe, and outlet flange then paint. Now for pics...

Cleaned the best I couldHigh temp'd and ready to go

RB20 Power...

After clear coatStill wet from clear

[CA18Magic]

So couple more painted parts, got some stuff in, triple A-Pillar and walbro 255. Also picked up some side skirts from a fellow NWN'r for a great deal. He said it was GP Sports but i looked all over and i didnt see any that had a vent, and these have vents in them. Either way, i like them.

Put in the Walbro, and i'm almost done with the coil pack/spark plug cover. Did something a little different. Think im gonna pull KA the motor tomorrow. Ive been lazy and still waiting on some important things that i havent received yet (engine gasket/valve stem seal kit, motor and transmission brackets, dump/elbow pipe, downpipe, intercooler and piping, etc etc etc). Anyways... some more pics.

GP Sports? I dunno Power steering pulley and clutch fan/water pump pulley Crank Angle SensorOld fuel pumpWalbro 255 installed

[CA18Magic]

So, i cant do anything till i get the engine/gasket rebuild kit and my new turbo... and still no conversion brackets! But i did get some new parts in the mail. Oh, and the coil pack cover w/o the clear coat. Here are the picsLooks really good with the cam and valve coverGreddy Shift Knob, I had this on my GS-T Eclipse back then, and loved the feel. Added 2 hp i think.BKR6EIX Iridium spark plugsStainless steel clutch line and spare ignitor from a z32 i believeI kno i kno... stock bov is sufficient, but the "boy racer" in me just loves the sound of this thing lol

[CA18Magic]

Okay, so I didnt get to do much today. I thought i was going to have the day to take the motor out. But instead my wife and I had to go furniture shopping lol. A little Ikea, Mor Furniture for less.. Bed Bath and Beyond. But anyways, STILL no motor mounts or other goodies that i'm waiting for. Lame-sauce... But i was able to unbolt the drive shaft, front bumper removal, and the radiator/shroud was taken out. Some did something atleast.

All main wiring and ish are unplugged. Couple small things leftAnd here's a teaser of what the coil cover looks like with the cam covers...

[CA18Magic]

Alright, so its been a bit since my last update. Just finished moving and finally got our internet today. Stopped by the parentals and took a picture of some things i got in the mail. Still no brackets. Still back ordered. I think i might ask to cancel that order and just get Top Hat brackets. Talked to them and they have theirs in stock. Anyways, here are some of the parts i got in =)

Oil adapter plate and coolant hose adapter Blue/white Prosport electronic gauges (Boost, oil temp, water temp)Clutch master cylinderTurbo Elbow, used but got it with a spare O2 sensor. Which i was really afterdual 10" 850 cfm fans with temp relayIntercoolerExedy Stage 2 clutch kit (wasnt home so i had my little sister take some pics with her camera phone lol)Silvia lights... i might sell the dual projectors and get the brick halog's

[CA18Magic]

Finally, an update! Ive been waiting for some parts... and they are finally in. And a little more progress. Here are the pics.

Front bumper removedDrained oil from motor and trannyJacked up for drive shaft removalOpen diff... pfffUnboltedAuto and manual drive shaft or propeller (as my dad calls it lol) Looks to be exactly the same length, even where the center bearing sits in the chassis. I probably could have just cut the collar off of the auto and it would have worked... oh well

[CA18Magic]

Oh, almost forgot... the parts that I was waiting for.

Top Hat conversion brackets... ditched out on zerolift cuz they were back ordered Better quality pics of my exedy stage 2 clutch kitRB20 to S13 "divorced downpipe"Intercooler piping that i'll be fab/welding myself, reinforced silicone hoses and tclampsCosmetic multilayer exhaust manifold gasketCustom brake master cylinder heat shieldOk, so here is where i deviated from the plan a bit. I did some research, and talked to a personal friend about his turbo from CX racing. I kno i kno, but hear me out. I thought about rebuilding the stock turbo, but i know at one point im going to want to up the boost, and with the ceramic wheel.. enough said. Second was to find a s15 t28, which required a different turbo elbow and downpipe. Orrr, CXracing GT28 brand new. I did some research on the one they made direct bolt on for rb20 and rb25. And for the power goals i have, seemed perfect. But i didnt want to invest in a turbo and have it blow up on me after a few thousand miles. So I reached out to some peeps and found someone that actually has the same turbo. My cousins friend has been using it on his RB25 for almost 2 years now. He drives it daily/drifting it at 15lbs. No smoke, and hasn't blown up on him so i went ahead and purchased it from CX. Here are the pics

[CA18Magic]

Alright, motor is finally out... and few more parts. Next, clean and paint the bay.

Coolant overflow resmagnetic drain plugecuecu removedall wiring unpluggedka upper harnessstupid EGR, wouldnt budge... show had to use the sawzallgood bye automaticUp, up...and away with the KA... that rhymed.. unintentional Dad and i love our toys..lol, entire silvia front will be on soon...

[CA18Magic]

Watch it in HD... the definition is higher.. Cant seem to embed this vid..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWUEJdFGJIQ
Modified by CA18Magic at 10:10 PM 12/1/2009

[Khost26]

Looks awesome man. Youre just working non stop. Not alot of rb20 swaps that ive seen. Ill keep posted.

[zerepdivad]

Looks really good. I wish my pops was into cars too. eh oh well at least him and i share interest in computers lol

I'll be following this thread. I've been running a cx t3 for a while now on my ka-t setup and haven't had any issues if that means anything to ya.

[DxZoo]

Everything looks awesome and super clean, people diss on the RB20 all the time but i dont see why. Its one of the cheaper motor swaps and its 6 cyl turbo! Im seroiusly considering this for my 89 coupe cause my ka24e is dying and this swap is pretty damn cheap. Good luck with the rest of the project and let us know what its like when you're done

[locoluna825]

wow... nice. I don't know much about swaps. Soo if i ever got interested in a swap sr/rb. Would it just start up when put back together in your car if the engine came with a fully uncut harness, ecu, and maf?

like reading a lot of these builds and Ive noticed several times now with people who do there own swap some of them get a hold of uncut harnesses and seems like there just reassembling it .

sorry for seeming like such a noob. I only know stuff about Ka's


Modified by locoluna825 at 10:09 PM 12/1/2009

[kouki munster]

Pretty sweet.

[nissangirl74]

Sweet build. Subscribed and waiting.

[CA18Magic]

Looks really good. I wish my pops was into cars too. eh oh well at least him and i share interest in computers lol

I'll be following this thread. I've been running a cx t3 for a while now on my ka-t setup and haven't had any issues if that means anything to ya.

Thx for the pos feedback guys. And yes zerpdivad, that means a ton to me! lol, ive heard nothing but good feedback on their turbos so it gives me more confidence in my decision.

wow... nice. I don't know much about swaps. Soo if i ever got interested in a swap sr/rb. Would it just start up when put back together in your car if the engine came with a fully uncut harness, ecu, and maf?

like reading a lot of these builds and Ive noticed several times now with people who do there own swap some of them get a hold of uncut harnesses and seems like there just reassembling it .

sorry for seeming like such a noob. I only know stuff about Ka's

Modified by locoluna825 at 10:09 PM 12/1/2009

Well, it helps to have an uncut harness.. because all write ups instruct you step by step in utilizing your stock ka harness plugs and splicing/ soldering it onto your swap harness (rb, ca or sr). So to answer your question, you do have to rewire it to work with your s chassis when swapping to sr, rb or ca! Plenty of write ups, i'll be posting my wiring endeavor as soon as i get to it!

Sweet build. Subscribed and waiting.

Haha, you're in luck nissangirl. I have more to post! Here we go...A little more progress... Block was cleaned once more and high temped black. Also pulled the old spark plugs and put in the NGK iridium gapped the to 0.8mm. The old plugs weren't bad, little to no carbon buildup. Good sign.

Next day off, going to clean and paint engine bay.

[CA18Magic]

Removed intake manifold, cleaned and painted stock piping and turbo outlet pipe. Ohhh, and front end came in while i was doing that

all cleaned uppainted, high temp aluminumNew shipment, my front end!hood is perfect, no dings or dents Front bumper is in good shape, needs paint... mocked up fendersApexi filter for hcr32

[CA18Magic]

Teaser... mock upNeed a "dry" day so i cant paint the motor bay before finally dropping it in. But for the meantime, more cleaning and complete strip down of the bay (no unpainted chassis areas.. like where the flip ups used to be lol.) And got to pre wire my gauges.



Not sure where i'm gonna mount the after market tach... dont worry. Its not a monster tach, just a 52mm.

[CA18Magic]

Finally another update, somewhat dry this morning so cleaned up the bay the best i could. Bolted in the silvia brackets... then sprayed, and cleared. One more part in the mail, upgraded bmc 15/16" from a z31. Planning on going z32 front calipers so this should clean up any weak pedal feel.

[locoluna825]

its getting harder and harder to load this page LOL i like this build so much, i like what you did with the high temp aluminum.

[CA18Magic]

its getting harder and harder to load this page LOL i like this build so much, i like what you did with the high temp aluminum.

Haha, i should put a disclaimer about the huge picture sizes... lol. My bad, but yea, high temp is the way to go. It lasts!

[bigwhiteboybob]

After reading this thread and looking over all the pictures i cant help but notice how well you can paint. did you paint everything yourself? do you do this for a living? or are you just a guy who bought a spray gun and self taught your way threw this? im really curious cause after paying people to do all my paint and seeing all the different parts and diff paint being done here i couldnt help but say somthing. what kinds of paints are you using? and there is no way this is all rattle can. i've seen alot of people do rattle can on this site and this is no comparison. can this quality be done with a rattle can. if this is a rattle can job i wont feel stupid cause this is just that good of a paint job imo. build looks great. seem to know what your doing good luck with the build looking forward to seeing it all come together!

[CA18Magic]

After reading this thread and looking over all the pictures i cant help but notice how well you can paint. did you paint everything yourself? do you do this for a living? or are you just a guy who bought a spray gun and self taught your way threw this? im really curious cause after paying people to do all my paint and seeing all the different parts and diff paint being done here i couldnt help but say somthing. what kinds of paints are you using? and there is no way this is all rattle can. i've seen alot of people do rattle can on this site and this is no comparison. can this quality be done with a rattle can. if this is a rattle can job i wont feel stupid cause this is just that good of a paint job imo. build looks great. seem to know what your doing good luck with the build looking forward to seeing it all come together!

Believe it or not, everything painted in this build thread is with rattle can. lol, i love painting with a gun, but the only compressor i have is my dads, and its tiny. I can spray for like 20 sec before it has to pressurize again. So rattle can is the quickest way right now. For the cover, i used duplicolor high temp engine paint and high temp clear. And for the bay, just duplicolor car/truck paint.

There's a few trick to spraying rattle can. Getting that gloss that everyone loves with rattle can seems impossible to most, or even getting an even coat each time because of the pattern that cans shoot. Instead of a fan, it shoots a small circle. So coverage takes forever, and overlapping is crucial to getting even coats. And one of the biggest problems i see when people paint with cans, they spray and pass way too quick. Making it look dull. To get that shine you gotta pass a lot slower making a thicker coat. But obviously not too slow, or else say hello to runs. The reason a lot of people fail at this is cuz the margin for error with rattle can is a lot larger than with a paint gun. But all in all, thats my opinion...

Ive been meaning to post a youtube "how to" for everyone since ive been getting so much pos. feedback for my paint jobs lol. But anyways, thank you for the praise, much appreciated!

[MICRoS13]

Great build

[breadbox]

Wow, great build so far. You need a gold oil cap.

+1 for ditching projectors for bricks.

[hbpignosePA]

im guessing this is slightly backdated?

still impressive build and quailty work there.

looove black and gold color combo; its what i had in mind for my swap