Rb20 install

[tx_widebody]

Hey guys i am about to drop my rb20 in to my s13 and i have a little question. I already installed the r32 crossmember, and since the motor and transmission are seperate write now, do u think it would be easier to put the motor and transmission together and install OR should i do them seperately??? And any other helpful hints would be great!!! Thanks

[Vkoslak]

Why not put the transmission back on the engine, take the cross member back out, put the engine on the cross member, then jack the whole think up into the car.

I did mine from the top with the transmission attached, I had to bend the radiator core support a little, but I bent it back when I was done.

If you do go from the top, you will need to have the engine/transmission almost vertical to pull it off. It was a real pain in the ***! I hope I never have to pull it back out!

I also put a KA in once, with the transmission separate, trying to line that crap up perfectly under the car is a bigger pain in the *** than dropping it in through the engine bay. Plus its harder to reach some of the bolts for the transmission to the block even on KA. I don't even want to think about it for the RB.

Good luck.

[Shocker]

what your gonna do is mate the transmission and the engine together.. suspend them from a cherry picker, jack the front of your 240 up about 2 feet or so off the ground, i mean way up, have someone pick up the rear part of the transmission as it clears the radiator support, and just walk the motor and transmission together towards the car lowering a bit.. it should slide in like cake.. Now the hardest part is lining up the mounts, so to make this easier, lower the car and the cherry picker together basically putting the 240 back to ground level, get a floor jack under the rear end of the transmission and help raise and lower it to its desired height so that the mounts line up. This is exactly what I did for my motor, and it litterally just poped right in, hardest part was getting the mounts to line up because I didnt have an engine balancer and my chain was too long on one side.. so if you have a balancer use it, it will make this even easier to do.

[Flicktitty]

man you guys are good!

[tx_widebody]

Shocker did u use the r32 crossmember??

[Carl H]

drop it in engine/trans from above much easier than the silly xmember dropping ordeal.rb20 will go in fine from above.

[Shocker]

Shocker did u use the r32 crossmember??

negitive, Mckinney Mounts.

[BoostFab]

i suggest you mount the transmission on the motor and drop it into the car as the whole piece. it will be a pain in the *** to put the transmission in after the motor is mounted. trust me, i have done both too many times, and i recommend as i've said.

[rb20jdmizzle]

Hey, you'r from A-town...well, i lived in Dallas and i had just drop the Rb20 into my s14. My Rb isn't running right now because some of the wiring is incomplete or maybe because i fried one of the chip on the ecu by accident and i am hopping Carl will help me on that if i can't get this thing fired up . But to drop the engine in isn't that hard at all. Honest to God that i did it all by myself by doing from the bottom up. What i had done first is running to Lowes and buy me 4 big-a$$ of bricks so i can put the jack-stands on the bricks and be able to jack my car up high enough for the engine and transmission to slide under-neath of the car. Off-course as we all know that the engine and transmission weight in at around 750-800lbs and for me...i am talking about by myself!!!! i ain't SUPERMAN So, to make things easy...i went to a hardware store and bought me a ATV lifter stand with wheels($80) and put my engine and transmission on that. Now, before you slide the engine/transmission under the car....you need to disconnect the rack-pinnion that bolt onto the 240 x-member and also your steering column.....After you had done all that (which should take you 30mins or less...you don't have to disconnect the rack-pinnion all the way out....just low enough where you can slide the engine/transmission over it) you are ready to slide the engine/transmission under the car with the ATV lifter- stand all by yourself with only little strenght of your. Next, line the engine/transmission up good and make sure everything out of its way...... then jack the engine/transmission up the ATV lifter-stand. Now, off-course you can't bolt the rb x-member onto the car because of the ATV lifter-stand in its way. So what i did next is used the chains...tied the chains to the engine and use the cherry-lifter to lift it up and then took out the ATV lifter-stand under the engine/transmission. Now you can bolt the RB x-member onto the car and connect the rack-pinnion back onto the x-member and from there all you had to do is put the engine back and forth sideway to sideway unstill the motor-mounts drop into the x-member and BAM-BAM....you are done. But i must warn you that before you are doing all that.....make sure you bang the firewall a little bit...especially the upper firewall and the side of the transmission wall to make things more easy. Off-course everybody had their different ways to drop the engine/transmission in.....some doing it from the top just like Carl say....and some doing it from the bottom....which ever ways they think it easy. But to drop the engine/transmission in from the top required 2 or more people.....but to drop the in engine/transmission in from the bottom.....that i had experienced first hands by me THAT YOU CAN DROP THE ENGINE/transmission IN FROM THE BOTTOM ALL BY YOURSELF!!!!! If i can do it....You can do it.

[skillzilla]

If you have a friend, or a family member, or a neighbor, or the dude that works at Auto Zone, or the bum on the corner, or pretty much anyone that can operate a cherry picker, going in from the top will save you time and effort.

If you have no one and your life is too lonely to continue, I suggest you kill yourself

Naw but seriously its up to you, this is another endless debate that is all based on personal preference.

[tight240]

What all did you have to swap out from your KA crossmember to your RB crossmember? I'm doing the same, and do you have a KA24DE or KA24E that your swapping out?

[rb20jdmizzle]

Mine is a s14 ka24de. All i did was disconnect the steering rack-pinnion from the ka x-member and took the ka x-member off the car...and connect the R32 x-member back on. You don't have to swap nothing beside the R32 x-member. Even the ka power steering lines...just bend a little and it should fit right into the R32 x-member.

[tx_widebody]

Yup i got the r32 crossmember installed tonite, now i just gotta wait for a day off from work so i can drop the motor!

[tight240]

Thanks, i didnt know if you had to swap all the lines and everything, now i know

[rb20jdmizzle]

Yep, the only thing that you need to change it out is the x-member. everything else stay the same.

[tx_widebody]

I can still use the Ka transmission mount and support, correct??

[rb20jdmizzle]

Yep, the Rb20det transmission mount and support and the ka are the same. You can use either ones whichever sue you best. Check your Rb transmission mount to see if the rubber still good. if not then swap the ka on to replace the RB .

[rb20jdmizzle]

Oh, i forgot to mention to yo that whether you use the RB transmission mount or the Ka transmission mount.....you can only bolt one bolt on each side....then drill a new hole for the second bolt....but if you are lucky then maybe you can bolt all of the bolts back on with no problem. i had to drill a new hole on mine. As for the drive-shaft...i don't know about the s13, but on the s14 the RB20 accepted the Ka drive-shaft but it not a direct-bolt-back-on. i had to measured the drive-shaft, then take it to the drive-shaft machine shop and chopped 1" or 1 1/4 " off....if i remember correctly the orginal s14 drive-shaft is 24 1/4" and i need it to be 23 3/8" ....then the shop had to put a new U-join and re-bound the drive-shaft....cost me $130 which is not bad cause now i had a grand new drive-shaft. Like i say....i don't know about the s13. you may not have to do all that. but if you ran into the same problem as me....just make sure you meassure the drive-shaft correctly before taking it to the drive-shaft machine shop. if you can find machine shop to do it for you then let me know.

[rb20jdmizzle]

hahaha. i mean if you can't find the drive-shaft machine-shop in Arlington then let me know. I know this guy in Mesquite that do a very good job on it. when he done with the new drive-shaft....you won't even know that it was you old ones!!!!