It was my wife's and she never put the top down and kept it in the garage, so when i met her i confiscated it since she didn't like it. So, a few years later, New top, completely new interior, manual tranny swap, all new factory suspension parts including NISMO G-Attack coil overs, Megan inner and outer tie rods, Megan RUCAs , Eibach front camber plates and TSW 17inch Mallory wheels. I gotta tell ya, i've looked high and low for something i liked in the 16inch-4 lug range but found nothing (I was worried 17 inch wheels would be too big and turn this car into more of a rattle bucket, but was way wrong) Looked at ROTAs and found their selection was reduced compared to a few years ago. Wanted the TSW Trackstar but found they didn't make it in less than 17 inches anymore. Have a mechanic at the local dealership that will do my RB swap on the side and then I've got to fix this rust above the rearview mirror. Leaks during heavy rains, but finding many body shops are afraid to dive into it due to lack of replacement parts.

Looks like a dream! Too bad about the body shops, they can be a pita.

Well, after failing emissions for the second year in a row, I'm dumping this KA engine. I'm putting a RB25DET NEO in this thing. I wish i could do this build with an engine bay paint job as well, but I'm already way over budget for this build.

I will provide some pics when the build starts in a couple weeks.

Project is under way but have hit a few snags of course. The mechanic doing the project for me is about a 45min drive from me so i don't have many decent pics yet. I will have more once the project is done and he sends me the pics he's taken. So, after a ridiculous amount of cash being spent, I have 99% of the parts in.


Koyo Radiator
OPtima battery
NGk sparks
Shaftmaster Aluminum driveshaft
Walbo Fuel Pump
CXRacing Intercooler
Circuit Sports Downpipe with flex
Wiring Specialties Harness (ordered wrong harness-have to have one custom made)
Syko Mount kit
Skyline engine subframe/crossmember
Defi Advance CR series Boost and fuel pressure gauge with Control unit
Blox manual boost controller
Nismo Type A FPR
Greddy Timing Belt
Nismo Type N1 water pump
OEM oil pump
Neo Gasket Kit
BRM 3inch stainless exhaust
Used 180sx rear VLSD and J30 AXLES (not pictured)

So tear down of the NEO started...
Good: Very clean and well maintained. Had some kind of HKS management on it already, a Grex Shifter, and a barely used Nismo RS252 LF clutch, flywheel and pressure plate so i thankfully didn't have to buy a clutch too.
Bad: cracks in exhaust manifold ( happened to find a used replacement locally for 25$).
Nagano had the engine to me in 3 days.









So, the speedo has been sent off for calibration....and waiting of the FPR to show. Found out i bought the wrong Damn wiring harness. And of course NEO harness kits are custom build/modded with your supplied materials so that should set me back 2-3 weeks. More pics to follow.

Dude is knocking this out. Too bad it's gonna be sitting for 3 weeks waiting for the harness to be made and tweaked for the convertible....

The air filter showed this week too....

Intercooler and engine going in....



BRM exhaust in place with ease....

This car will likely be faster than my Mustang...Yowza!

Damn Koyo won't fit without cutting the core support so I guess i'm sending it back since i don't want to modify the chassis. It's amazing how difficult it is to find a radiator setup people agree on. using syko mounts so i have to find a radiator thin enough to work with electric pullers.
I've seen people using OEM r32 rads with the clutch fan but don't know what mounts they are using. I guess i'm having to track down some Flex-A-Lites if the stock clutch fan won't fit.

nice i like the car i have the same one but yours is in way better shape let me know how you like it with the new motor and are you selling the manual tran for the ka

I am selling the manual trAnny and the drive shaft or whatever else can be unloaded. ProbablY wouldnt want to ship it anywhere so hopefully you are in The atlanta area. Lemme know what u need and if you can pick it up.

no i am in MN how mush do you wont for it with shipping just cureos how mush one is going to run me

i might do an rb20 i my car but not sure yet

Flex-A-lite 410, fuel line fittings, some blue LEDs for the speedo, circuit sports muffler hangers ( OEM hangers seem to be too loose), Escort permanent wiring harness for my radar detector have arrived....but still waiting on the engine harness that's off at Wiring Specialties, the FPR and a Chase Bays power steering line. The downpipe section of the exhaust is of concern. It hangs down enough that it will be a "bottom out" issue during daily driving. I will have to take it somewhere to get some custom weld adjustments made.

Absolutely can't wait for this build to be done.

Well I finally got my car back, and it's a blast to drive. There's still some finishing touches to do. The gauge doesn't register the correct speed...shows probably half of what i'm actually going, and the blue LEDS i put in the speedo don't work so the whole cluster doesn't light up making it quite difficult to drive at night. I don't like where the DEFI gauges went but that's temporary because i couldn't decide on a permanent place. Really want to move them into the dash with a custom built gauge cluster. I also have to have the AC hooked back up. It needs to go to a AC place to run some customer lines for the new configuration.

Also, this RB upgrade also upgrades the heater and that's awesome on a convertible. If i put some meat on a stick and held it up in front of the double vent, I could probably cook it.

There is some quirkiness with the front suspension...it makes a whining noise when fully turned sometimes, not sure about what that is.




power steering cooler

lucky if there's half an inch of clearance here between the flex a lite and engine....

Added some LED needles to the gauge cluster with blue LED lights behind the cluster. Also had the cluster air vents removed and had my Defi gauges moved into the space where the vents were so i could see them better. I've got a cusco strut tower brace, megan sway bar, and a mishimoto oil cooler on the way. This thing runs too hot on the highway. Going to add some venting solutions to help move air through the engine better. The interior has a new console, new ac/stereo bezel, new rear view mirror with map lights and the gauge bezel that had the vents removed is brand new. Looking for a short throw as well, just haven't settled on one yet.