RBambler build thread

[AZhitman]

Coolest build thread of the year. Period.

Folks, keep an eye on this thread, we're going to be putting this one on the map soon!

[ItzGenX]

I vote for front page article when it's complete .

[bmxarmy]

Small update....Working 10's make for slow work in the garage! Tonight I was feeling ambitious and thought I would go out there and cut the floor out to fit the wide tires. Once I got out there things slowed down....ALOT. I started by removing the old sub box. I don't think this will be going back in. I think it was one of those high school decisions. A stereo is nice but excess stereo is cheezy. Anyway that took alot longer than planned as some ***hole made the box a real tight fit.....(it was me)




Once I got it out I could start to plan out my cuts. here is what it looks like without the sub box.





Then I crawled under the car and tried to get a plan together. This is when I find a "surprise" It is a super crappy rust repair, probably done by my grandpa who cant weld. See the pics. It is a "patch panel" fiberglass bondo'd in!!!



If you look close you can see were the bondo is. Check out the back side!!!



If you look close you can read the label! hahaha oh well soon enough I will cut that out, this really only made me more willing to cut into a unibody. Once I layed out some cuts I was about ready to make some sparks when I thought of the gas tank, there goes the rest of the night! After dropping the tank down from under the trunk I realized I had parked it FULL of gas. So after siphoning out 2 jerry cans its still half full! And cutting will have to wait till another day:(

[bmxarmy]

Oh here is a shot of the tank.



I will likely be building a new one that has a return line and a new fuel level sender. Maybe an in tank fuel pump unless that is a dumb idea...Any suggestions for a fuel setup, I would like to one day make the rb around 400hp and would rather do the fuel thing once. Also does anybody know what the stock rear end ratio of a skyline is, I will want to try to match it close with the 9". Thanks alot guys (and nissangirl) I truly do appreciate the support.

[AZhitman]

Every 2 hour project turns into a weekend (at least for me).

Can't wait to see the tubs - that chassis is a decade ahead of its time.

I'd run a Walbro 255, they're real reliable. I'm running the 255 (dry) on our RB-swapped S30. Sending unit should be easy, tho.

Grab a couple 90-96 300ZX fuel filters (cheap and big), run one after tank and another after the pump.

Remember to add a return bung to the tank. More welding yay!

[nissangirl74]

Oh here is a shot of the tank.



I will likely be building a new one that has a return line and a new fuel level sender. Maybe an in tank fuel pump unless that is a dumb idea...Any suggestions for a fuel setup, I would like to one day make the rb around 400hp and would rather do the fuel thing once. Also does anybody know what the stock rear end ratio of a skyline is, I will want to try to match it close with the 9". Thanks alot guys (and nissangirl) I truly do appreciate the support.

Have you decided which rear end you are going to use? The J30 ratio is 4:08 and the R200 is 3:69. Either one will do you just fine.
This thread might give you some more insight
rear-end-gear-ratios-and-a-few-other-qu ... 19233.html

from another thread: rear-end-gearing-for-my-particular-setup-t388423.html

from carlist.com:
This is the ratio of the gearset (usually the differential) that is farthest from the engine. A ratio of 3-54:1 means the driveshaft turns 3.54 times for every one turn of the wheels. Generally speaking, the higher the number, the better the vehicle's initial acceleration and pulling power. The lower the number, the better the vehicle's fuel economy. (See also Axle Ratio

U must be dreaming guy who said 2.9, or maybe it's custom. the skyline has this faster accelerating gearing because it doesn't need to be geared taller for boost, it has more cylinders (and sometimes displacement) that effectively spool the turbo faster without a tall ratio. Based upon this fact, my guess is the RB20det has the 4.766, RB25det has 4.687, RB26dett with 4.956.

Gear 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Final ratio
SKYLINE=4.613-2.240-1.444-1.058-.818-.638- 4.766 (7.8-7.9)

SKYLINE=4.675-2.220-1.502-1.074-.839-.656- 4.687 7.8-7.9)

SKYLINE=4.223-2.148-1.509-1.118-.840-.629- 4.956 7.8-7.9)

source: http://www.angelfire.com/un/darklord/ratios.html

last edit i swear LOL.


Modified by Didderson at 9:46 PM 12/4/2008


Modified by Didderson at 10:04 PM 12/4/2008



Hope this helps.

[AZhitman]

Bex is right - Make it simple on yourself. Anything in the 3.60 - 4:08 range will be comparable to what other RB-powered cars use. Realistically, you'd need to get into tire size and other crap, which really isn't important now.

Pick something close to that and go with it - The Rb has a broad curve.

A nice 4:11 diff would really make that turbo wake up quicker...

[bmxarmy]

Sweet thanks. I have done the tire size thing before and found it can make a difference but it isn't as much as some think. My mom has a 27 roadster with 31"x16" mickey thompson's on it and we ended up running 4.56's and from the chart and ratios it only raised the highway rpm by 200 compared to a 4.11's. I will look at what gear sets we have around and decide if i need to by new ones or not. for some reason I think I have a 3.91 or something close laying around somewhere.

Sorry to be lazy and just ask, I know i could have done a search first

And thanks for the fuel info, I will likely pick up a walboro and check my "inventory" I may have a couple of aerquip/earls filters left over from previous projects.

[nissangirl74]

I vote for front page article when it's complete .

So do I.

[bmxarmy]

hahaha thanks for the support all!

[AZhitman]

Sorry to be lazy and just ask, I know i could have done a search first

Pffft.

We only enforce that rule with n00bs. You just keep doing what you do - Hell, I'm pretty sure it's not gonna be very often that we know something you don't.

[bmxarmy]

Thanks Greg!

Here is a quick dinner break update. I got my big jesus hole cut in the floor. and started the new frame sections, here is some pics. I found some pretty ugly rust in there and I am happy I decided to cut it all out. Also Greg was right the car is ahead of its time. Take a look at the dimpled holes on the inside of the frame! this thing was made in '61! Hopefully I can get the new back half done before I leave for work out of town this sunday.













Here is a shot of mocking up the frame I plan to fit it all in then break the tacks and weld all the joint on my bench. then weld it back in the car for good.

[AZhitman]

How weird is it that your coil covers echo the punched sheetmetal theme of a car built 50 years ago ?

[bmxarmy]

yeah I know!! I totally have to run one of the dimpled ones now! Plus I pressed some dimples in the rad support I made, and I'm sure I can drill some more holes elsewhere! haha

Another update of tonight's final progress will be up soon, I just gotta clean up.

[nissangirl74]

I love this thread.

[bmxarmy]

Alright, I got quite a lot done tonight. After dinner I went out and got the rear sub rail fit up on the driver side. I cut the tacks and pulled it out for final welding. Once I got it out I cut matching pieces to make the passenger side, clamped them together and down to my welding table. Then welded them out and cleaned them up, verifying that they matched perfectly.







Next I fit the drivers side in and put on a few good welds to hold it all together and to stop the back half of the car from moving away from were it was supposed to be.









with the car good and solid again I cut it up some more haha! This time onto the passenger side, and am I glad I did! First I cut out the old spare tire hole. I plan on bending up a new box to fill the hole in, this will hold the battery and maybe some stereo stuff. After that was out of the way I cut the wheel well out. here is were I found out I was glad I did. see the following.









here is my surprise....
MOUSE NEST!!!!!!



I HATE MICE. Anyway that is it for tonight, I should have a good day tomorrow and if so I will do another update.

later

[Carl H]

r33 final drives for turbo are as follows:
manual - 4.10
automatic 4.36

i run an auto final drive in my s14 and love it, killer acceleration but it does have high cruising rpms.

[Bwana]

Great project man!

Only suggestion I would have is do definitely go with an in-tank fuel pump setup. If you're building a tank anyway it's the only way to go. I did it in my CA swapped MGB with a walbro 255 and never had a single problem with fuel delivery.

[bmxarmy]

in tank you don't say? is the walboro for in tank different than out tank? Is there a model number i need to look for? And yes I will be building a new tank! thanks for the help all!

[Bwana]

The pumps are very similar in design and construction. If you get one for an s13 it will be perfect. Mounting it in-tank allows the pump to be cooled by the fuel sloshing around in the tank, heat and fuel starvation (unless you use a surge tank setup) are the usual killers of external pumps.

[l0nestar]

Your thread makes me happy.

[chaos2000]

Cool project and great work!!!

[bmxarmy]

Update.....

I got the new sub frame finished up and welded out! this makes me happy as welding overhead is never fun.







Next I made the new box that will replace the old spare tire hole. I started with a sheet of 20 gauge mild steel and layed out my box. Next I cut it out and cleaned up the edges, I was planning on practicing my tig skills so I made sure to make it perfect as tig likes no gaps when welding....especially with 20 gauge! My box/pan brake does not bend a deep box. Unfortunately I made this thing like 3/4" to big, otherwise it would have bent it all. You can see how far I got with the brake, the rest I had to do on the welding table. I clamped it down with some scrap flat bar on top and put light pressure on it while tapping it up with a rubber hammer. Once it was all bent I tacked it up and then welded it out. The tig is soooooo nice, quit, clean, and precise. i love using its just really slow as fit up needs to be perfect and everything has to be spotless.






Here is the box with the welds dressed and it sitting in its new home.







That is it for now, more progress next week. Life is getting in the way of fun for the next few days.

[yotik]

nice build. props...

[AZhitman]

SO damn cool!

[bundy26]

I wish my wife would let me play like like that, that is awsome.

[johnny butt]

sick build, bump for you.

subscribed.
not something i do often.

[bmxarmy]

Ultra mini, super small, update time.

I have been super busy with work the last few weeks and that has not left a lot of time for the rbambler. I have been able to get the dash finished up, I don't love how it turned out, however it will do for now. Next winter I can pull the dash, weld in a better piece and paint the dash. I have been trying to avoid any bodywork or paint. I am still waiting for the boost gauge to come in hence the extra hole in the dash. I also got the tubs started. I forgot to take pics of the tubs, but I will finish them up this week and take more pictures. Hopefully things will slow down at work slightly this week and more progress can be made!





This week I will pull the dash out again and pre wire it all to a quick connector to make install WAY easier.

[AZhitman]

Damn, what I wouldn't give to be working on this.

Best build thread of 2011.

[bmxarmy]

Saturday night update.

I got the wheel tubs all fit and tacked in. Also made a small patch panel in the trunk to close off one of the last holes remaining from tubbing the car. There is still one little hole i gotta fill before its time to weld it out and seam seal everything. I also took some time to build a bracket that will hold the vr sensor. I have been planning this piece in my head for some time, so it went together real well and fairly quick. Here are some pics.













Tomorrow I want to fit the back seat back in the car, I hope I dont have to modify the frame too much. Its looking like the bottom and top frames will both have to be modified. The next step will be finishing all the welding in the car so I can start to re-wire it all up and get the megasquirt in the car. I am ready to move on to wiring, after a while welding and grinding gets old when your lying on your back!!!