RB26DETT Swappers. Why not keep the awd transmission?

[ItzGenX]

Well lately I have been looking into an RB swap. I want the king of it all, the RB26. Digging and digging into the swap info I only keep running into high expenses like getting an RB25 transmission, Oil Pan, Flywheel, Starter etc. This is what I see that drives the price way up there.

My first thought was "ok that shouldn't be too bad, just see if I can find an RB25 transmission before I go and buy a RB26 engine and have it sit in the corner of the garage waiting for a friggin' transmission." All the RB25DET transmissions are insanely hard to find. When I do find one, the going prices are 1k+ for a DET one and they are already sold. I have yet to find one for a decent price so far except one for $500 with a blown 3rd gear. So I have gone and thrown the RB25 RWD transmission idea out the window.

I was thinking, why discard this perfectly fine and beastly awd transmission and parts? Why not just use it? Aside from chopping off the front differential off the RB26 oil pan and welding the ungodly hole you make from doing so, this gives you a perfectly fine oil pan with higher oil capicity and baffles (Toss the RB25 pan idea). Now we still have an awd transmission to deal with. I have heard ideas such as chop off the transfer case etc and weld it back, but why chop it off? I don't have a RB26 here in front of me to examine and measure etc to see all the possibilities, but I KNOW for a fact that the 26 transmission fits in the tunnel (just need custom transmission mounts to sit this baby right, and maybe a little bit of banging, nothing major). I was wondering, isn't it possible to just remove the front driveshaft and block off the shaft hole so it doesn't puke?

Doing so will mean you get to retain your RB26 transmission, oil pan, flywheel, starter, and whatever else it is you take off just to convert to RB25 RWD transmission. So in the end, wouldnt it be easier to just retain all the GTR stuff and call it a day? Just toss the front drive shaft and chop off the front diff (or buy a 25 oil pan if you want). What would be your opinions and inputs. No flames please, lets keep this informative.

[CursedGTR]

It is done over here all of the time. Matter of fact, I have yet to see a RB25DET mission on an RB26DETT here in Japan in the 7 years I have been here. There is nothing wrong with it as long as it is done right. Alot of problems that people talk about are nothing more than pure speculation. The rest is just preference. THe fit is going to be tight but not impossible.

I will most likely be going this route with my mission in the S15 just because I want to keep some options open for gear boxes (OS88 and things like that).

Good luck.

[ATpossible]

go ahead and keep the awd transmission. like the previous guy said it can be done. anything is possible. is it worth it? i personally think it is. just be smart about what you end up doing.

okay i've seen an rb26 transmission and s14 and yes i would personally hack up the tunnel wall (as little as possible) and use the transmission. i noticed that where the exhaust runs on the left side of the transmission tunnel is higher from the ground compared to its counterpart on the right side of the tunnel. make something similar to that and i think you will be fine.

im no expert and this is my opinion and others are against mine so just a little fyi...good luck as well w/swap.

[ItzGenX]

Well now that Curse is back from Iraq and can throw his beastly RB26 into his S15, he can probably share pictures to show me the clearance and adjustments first hand on what he does to fit the transmission in his car . I think the 26 transmission clears with very very minimal banging after I looked at pictures of the R14 (full-race awd s14). If you have the time, run over to their project website and take a look at the pics. One shows the transfer case of the transmission mounted in the car. Looks like the tunnel wasn't hurt at all. I will probably have to fab up a transmission mount because no one I know of thus far in the states even makes one for awd. All the mount kits are for RWD trannies. Fabbing stuff is always fun to do anyway.

[FAST-DATSUN]

You can keep the AWD trans with a little work, but it heavy and a tigher fit and requires more work than most people can do, but will work..

[HxC_Nismo]

well when you see the rb26 transmission you will see how big it is and its will definitly be very tight in the trans tunnel on your 240. i had to search for my rb25det trans and i found a few at http://www.jdmenginecorps.com and your going to have to call them and ask cause they wont have a listing and i paid $1200 + shipping for mine and they will give you the flywheel, starter, and shifter with it too, but i used the shifter out of the rb26 trans cause it had a shorter throw shifter. but if you do decide to modify your trans post pics so we can get a write up on how to do it. and if you modify your oil pan dont chop the front of the pan i have custom spacers that drop the sway bar enough to clear the front of the rb26 pan pm me if interested.

[002-M-P]

+1 for jdmenginescorp

I got my rb26 motor there, it came with the rb25 transmission, oil pan, flywheel, clutch, and starter...they sell it as a swap package type deal. Good people to work with.

[Scott Buwalda]

$1,200+ for a used transmission makes me laugh.

Scott

[StricNyne]

i concur.....

[Blown240sx]

The 26 trans isnt much bigger once the transfer case/parts are removed and the hole is welded shut. Plus that why they made the 5 pound mini sledge.

[BoostFab]

keep the ef-ing awd 26 transmission and use it. i have seen an s13 w/ the 26 transmission mounted with the unmodified transfercase chunk. get to work.

[91oneeightySX]

they now make a kit for the S14 and S15, and are workin on the S13 where you can take the AWD system, transmission, and all the suspension from the Skyline, and make it work. lookin forward to seeing someone do that.

[John Bristot]

Who makes it for the s14? where do you get this?

[002-M-P]

Full Race makes what he is refering to... http://www.full-race.com/r14/

As far as I can tell, all of the modification other than the motor itself, have to be done in house by Full Race staff.

[HxC_Nismo]

its getting harder to find now days since the rb swap is getting more popular. but its better to pay $1200 from jdmenginecorp then $1700 from jgy customs or even getting on a long waiting list for one or having to buy an rb25 engine/trans setup just to get the transmission. but if you can get it to work with the rb26 trans id say go for it.

[Blown240sx]

LMAO the full race kit is like 10K

[ItzGenX]

Make that $12,800 starting excluding the engine/transmission lol. That is out of the question anyway. I don't want to keep the awd transmission cause I want an awd car, but rather I just do not want to source an overpriced RB25 transmission, flywheel, starter etc. Rather then converting the car to AWD for the transmission, I want to convert the transmission to RWD only. That way instead of throwing out a perfectly fine AWD trans, I can save the bucks and use the sucker. That and if I mess it up, I can always buy everyone else's 26 missions for less then shipping cost! . It serves better then sitting in the corner of their garages collecting dust and cobwebs.

I think for an S13 the fitment is tigher in the tunnel but I no longer have my katrinafied S13 shell laying around for comparison to my S14. Someone stole my S13 shell (flooded and mudded) after katrina and probably sent it to a recycling place . If both tunnels are the same size and it comes down to chopping off the transfer case, I guess I can bust out the TIG and get to work. That way I can spend 1200 on something else, like the high electric bill from using the stupid welder . Let's just hope she fits when I decide to tackle this and save me the trip to the welding store for AL rods. Then all I have to do is simply make a transmission mount.