in may of 2012 i purchased a 1996 S14 Ks from my very
good friend of mine (a steel for only $3000nzd he even
threw in the wheels 17x9 17x8 and personalized plate
DRTY 14) the motor and gearbox had been removed two
years earlier by myself as the motor had blown and he
gave me it for spear parts while i was rebuilDing my
SR20DET for my SR converted A31 cefiro . at this point
in time with my friend still owner of the silvia he had the
idea of going down the VH path but after a bit of thought
he changed his mind and his project lost all momentum .
so i got my grubby hands on her in may and was unsure
which motor and box package to go with until another
good friend had a R33 RB25DE gearbox for sale i bought
for $250nzd and ended up getting the motor as well for
nothing (good mates cant bet em) . so with a RB engine
and gearbox package i thought why not and set off with
my RB into silvia conversion , having previously done a
RB to SR conversion on my cefiro this SR to RB was also
very simple everything done in my garage in a weekend .
having a RB30E block with a R33 RB25DET head sitting on
a engine stand in my garage , i had a brief plan of a
RB30DET build for my silvia but soon found something i
thought would be better suitable for what I'm aiming for
with my build (witch is a head turner/cruiser/tyre shredder)
, a JDM VH41DE from a Y32 cima , paid $1800nzd for the
VH conversion (engine,trans,ECUs,looms,AFM,downpipe
driveshaft,ETC. .)
and was lucky enough that it was a
stones throw from my work so i borrowed the work truck
and engine crane to get the BEAST PACKAGE home lol .
it was upon unloading the engine and trans still married
together i realized just how heavy the auto trans and the
accompanying wiring was and changed my mind to a
manual gearbox to go behind my VH . after modifying my
thermostat housing i found some VH to RB subframe
conversion engine mount brackets which worked with RB
mounts , i test fitted my motor with RB mounts and the
factory exhaust manifolds and what a squeeze ! maybe
1mm clearance from the chassis rail , also my motor sat
to high and forward for my liking and the sway bar didn't
clear the sump .
so decided i would find some mounts a
bit shorter and run a pair of headers for better clearance
and some extra ponies . found a pair of 30mm tall heavy
duty nolathane RX7 mounts (15mm shorter) with hi
tensile 16mm bolt and nut then got my engine subframe
modified to take the 16mm bolt , the engine mount holes
moved 30mm back and strengthening added . i then went
about getting my sump modified to clear the sway bar
and steering rack , and due to the nature of cast it warped
quite a bit was hoping when i tightened it up to the engine
it would pull up ok but it cracked so i starting again with
my sump . with the cracked modified sump on the engine
, the modified subframe in the car i test fitted the engine
with the new RX7 mounts and it sits perfectly now (very
happy) . decided to go with a R32 GTR gearbox mainly
because i scored it for $600nzd ! good thing is they have
the same internals as a RB25DET/VG30DETT gearbox but
with a stronger casing plus the guy i got my engine
brackets off is an engineer who owns a C34 laurel with a
S2 VH41DE and RB gearbox behind it , he still has the
plans from his custom bell housing so my GTR box is at his
work at the moment along with my VQ flywheel from a A32
FWD maxima/cefiro to get the ring gear flipped (can any
one confirm a 9 bolt RB pressure plate will bolt to this???) ,
will be removing the 4WD components of my GTR gearbox
obviously , have a 4.1 shimmed LSD I'm going to run in it
hoping to find a 3.5 for it though as iv read it would be
better suited ???
any way hope u like my project that's about where i am
up to at the moment . will get some pictures up as soon
as i work out how to lol !
next up is headers , puk clutch , wiring , master cylinder ,
drive shaft then certification for the street
CANT WAIT !
