Rb20into s13, SEARCHED!

[Atvstevo1337]

Before I get flamed, yes I searched but I didn't find exactly all I was looking for.

So here it goes, I'm looking to swap an RB20 into the 240 Why? because I love the sound and really don't want to go the sr or ca route.

anyways i'm looking to spends around 3-5k, would this put me around the 275-300hp range? I've read that a lot of people are having trouble with hood clearance, is their a way to solve this without cutting the skeleton?

From what i've also read the RB20 bolts in with stock mounts and R32 crossmember and the stock 5sp driveshaft will fit.

yea im a noob and the flamesuit is on so help me out!

[govtworkhorse]

3-5k will get you a lot of places. It all depends how you go about your purchases. If you are just buying the motor set, thats 1500 or so with shipping. Get some mounts 400, do the wiring yourself with help from NICO, and you will have a good bit of change leftover for gauges, injectors, turbo, Z32 MAF, and a good tune. So I say yes it's possible but be ready to get dirty doing work yourself. If you pay a shop, your 5k is gone on install.

EDIT: Circas are the sh1t!

[S13 240SX]

goodluck on that price range and hp goal..

i'm at 3k now and motor is stock and doesn't even run!!!

[apollas]

5k WILL actually get you probably what you desire but thats if you do the swap with your own hands...

I bought my motor +transmission + harness from neotech for 1200Mckinneys for 490 after taxkoyo for 309 shippedtomei 264 cams + custom garret turbo + 550cc sard injectors for 2K locallyand the rest of the money went to custom hoses, pipes, intercooler, fluids,gauges, etc.!!!

the previous car from my friend who used the cams, turbo and injectors looked around 350hp before final tuning

I would much rather go with conversion mounts from mckinney or tophat rather than use the crossmember from an r32 but there are some people who prefer it that way instead.

I used mckinneys and I still had to cut the skeleton due to the way I routed my intercooler pipings but cutting it was not a big of a deal at all.

Hope this helps!

[govtworkhorse]

H3ll yeah, I like the sound of your build apollas. Have you had any problems with your hood being "flakey" at cruising speeds?

[apollas]

rofl

H3ll yeah, I like the sound of your build apollas. Have you had any problems with your hood being "flakey" at cruising speeds?

lol if you mean the front of the hood tapping on the hose clamps and piping then its not that bad, i might just cushion it later. I did not remove the entire skeletal brace, just the parts that were needed to make the hood clear. Ill have to look into it more when I actually do get some crazy mileage in though. but as for now I only drove the rb around the block since I just got it running

[govtworkhorse]

Right right. I have heard of a few members having to cut even a little off the skeleton and it became somewhat wobbley. Just what I've heard as I didn't have too.

[nizmo zilvia]

3 - 5k might not be enough. Sorry to say but some spend more. I personally spent about 8g just to get it running. And yea I've replaced ALL the things that could go bad so I would advice you do the same for the better of your car.

[Coolwhip]

$5k on the motor or $5k on the motor and support? (I guess that is all depends on what you have on the car currently)

Reason being you'll want to look into:

BrakesLSDGaugesTires

With 350whp whats the sense if you can't put it down and hook up, as well stop the damn thing. And $5k is alot of investment to toy around with when gagues are so cheap.

But with that said, you'll see the budget get really lean very quick.

[nizmo zilvia]

I think thats with the motor and even that is to low of a price to start with. First get the car running and work out all the bugs before you upgrade. You never know if your motor might be bad.

[Carl H]

you can make 350-400whp with 5k out of a 20, just a matter of making the right choices when buying parts and what not.this also assumes that all labour is done yourself...but even then some things can be outsourced for little money.

[Atvstevo1337]

5k is just a starting budget at the time, I've got one of my race bikes up for sale so theres gonna be a 10k budget soon! all the work is going to be done by me right now im just trying to source a good motor and transmission. (does ka transmission bolt up to the 20?) I've already got a VLSD, brakes and already figured out my guages ect.

Anyone have some recomendations on where to find a motor/transmission?

[DJButton]

Well I would push that number to 6 or 7 and you should be all set, I've spent about 6 on mine and it's just a clean running stocker right now, but with some different purchases etc I could have spent about the same and had a GT3076r and supporting mods, so yeah it's possible, just don't be dumb!

I don't think JHOT has any in stock right now, but I always recomend them first, #1 their prices are reasonable, #2 they are easy to work with and #3 based on past experience they rock!

[240wootie]

I have $5k into my car car total so far thats with the rb20, wheels, coilovers, WRX seats and some odd ball stuff... my rb is stock at this point, would like to do a turbo upgrade in the future. but i got the motorset for 1600 and got a new radiator, custom driveshaft (me), custom mounts (me), gauges, timing belt, water pump, new MAF (stock one was bad), new belts, i did the wiring myself (round of applause to Carl H), did electric fans, and did a FMIC and made my own IC piping. I need to get my gauge cluster done by Carl, and get my coilovers and seats installed. still need some stuff, but i'm not too power hungry at this point...

[nizmo zilvia]

you can make 350-400whp with 5k out of a 20, just a matter of making the right choices when buying parts and what not.this also assumes that all labour is done yourself...but even then some things can be outsourced for little money.

Im sure you can and still have money to spare. But if your starting fresh like he is its going to depend on what he wants done to the car. Some customs parts may run him nearly a thousand. Not to mention parts for the car itself; brakes, rotors, wheels, etc.

[Atvstevo1337]

OH the budget i was talking about was purely for the swap/motor. i've already got my suspension, wheels paint brakes and all that done only other thing i need is seats but im saveing them for another day

[apollas]

OH the budget i was talking about was purely for the swap/motor. i've already got my suspension, wheels paint brakes and all that done only other thing i need is seats but im saveing them for another day

Yea basically my version of the run down for ya was motor specifically, as I also already had suspension, tires, brakes, etc etc

[BoostFab]

i can get a rb20 to 350whp for less than $4k. of course do everything myself, like fabrication, etc. this budget is getting the motor to put out that much power and tuning escentials, no other mods like suspension, etc.

like carl said, it's about making the right purchases and lots of it doing things yourself. once a shop come into the picture, the price get pretty steep.

[FASTRB]

Cheap and reliable is not fast Cheap and fast is not reliable Fast and reliable is not cheap.....

.....with the exception of one thing, spark plugs, the cheaper the better

[Carl H]

heres how it played out for me...hks exhaust manifold 500$hks wastegate 350$garrett gt30r 1200$rips intake mani 1200$greddy 720cc injectors 200$spec clutch 315$tomei cams 550$tomei springs 300$z32 maf freetuned ecu freeebizzle fmic 150$r32 front clip 1200$

total of 5965$...so you see you can build a nice car for about 5k, note that you dont need all of the parts i listed but gives you a general idea of how much stuff can run you.for 350-400whp you can go with a t3/t4 57 trim for consierably less money and modify the stock exhaust manifold for external wastegate.lots of options...

[FASTRB]

Hey Carl H, nice list, I'd like to know where you found an HKS exhaust manifold for $500, i'd like to buy 2 right now!!! Even all the prices are low for that matter, you work at a parts store? Know someone who does? Even Ebay cannot match those prices...

p.s. i'm really not sh**ting you about the manifolds tho, i'm a buyer at that price man...

Edit, thought about it for a sec, is the manifold a tubular type or a cast?

[ka24deColt]

dont forget small maintenance stuff your gonna want to replace before any of that.. oil pump,water pump, pulleys, plugs, etc..

[240wootie]

The cost adds up quickly when you start buying small parts. i was surprised when i kept buying all the things i didnt think about when i started my project. i almost thought an SR20 would have been a better swap... until i started my RB for the first time.

[apollas]

i almost thought an SR20 would have been a better swap... until i started my RB for the first time.

ME TOOO!!

[Acecool]

I am at about 2200 to 2300 and it runs great :-)

[s14 2510's]

I lost track of what ive spent on both my 240's. They both got striped down to nothing but the body. In 2 weeks my s13 will have a full cage with door braces. But i dont daily drive my cars. They got built to be beat on. This year I plan to make it to every drift event. It adds up fast before you know it you have over 10k into a car. I always say do it right or do it twice. When i got my rb20 for my s13 it had 40k on it verry clean inside. I tore it apart to redo the crank colar. Im glad I did looked like it was on its way out. But i had to buy new bearings, collar, gasket kit, arp head studs, mls head gasket, tensioners, timing belt, and the crank timing gear because I had to punch it to get it off. I had the crank balanced and polished for the new bearings. The head got cleaned and shaved so the gasket would seat good. Then comes the turbo I got a hks 2540 brand new so i could push around 300whp. I have rsr gt2 exhaust, amperformace sreamer, 3" down pipe. I bought a apexi power fc, dataloggit, and a zeitronix wb af to tune with. I have 440cc injectors from my rb26 swap so those were free. then i got a z32 maf. Then comes the clutch I got a os giken twin with nismo pivot and the OS to bearing. I welded the diff because all I do is drift and drive to events with this car. The suspension and brakes are all aftermarket. I doubled up all the spot welds in the car. Im in the process of buying OMP race seats/harnesses to hold me in place. I still have to make my intake manifold. But thats ez besided i have to buy velocity stacks. I can get all the materials to make it at work. I bet i can even weld it up while im on the clock hehe. I bought a set of aftermarket mounts and a drivshaft off a nissan truck from a junkyard. I had the shaft cut and re balanced with a differnt yoke on it. I just bought a greddy vslp intercooler for it last week. but i still have to make the piping. I have a new apexi BOV for it. id still like to buy a apexi avcr for it though. As you can see it adds up fast. I never wanted to do all this to this car as i have another 240 kinda like it. but i never wanted to be stranded at the track unless my cars crushed from hitting a wall or something.I didnt list all the small things it took to get this pieced together.
Modified by s14 2510's at 8:16 AM 12/25/2007