RB30 engine conversion (lots of pics) - GT-R Register - Official Nissan Skyline and GTR Owners Club forum

R32 Combat · 6th April 2006, 07:43 PM

I'm taking photos of my engine conversion for all to see.

I've decided to fit an Nissan RB30 into my 1989 R32 GTR.

It's not a super hard job, there are just a few tricky problems to solve. I don't know if my solutions are the best. They are just my solutions. I've asked where I can but some solutions are just not discussed. It's like its some big secret or something.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this thread.

The 1st thing to do was fit the Jun oil pump drive collar to the crank.
Notice how thin the RB30 STD drive collar is.

Building the engine.

1st are a few shots of the block after cleaning.

Next fitting the crank. All basic stuff so far.

Next is the oil pump. I chose the JUN pump. It's cheap and quite a large capacity.
The 1st photo is the STD pump with the threaded bumg in the end removed. You can see I blocked up the original oil feed hole. The RB30 oil feed pickup pipe is in a different place in the block so it can't be use with the GTR sump. You have to run an external oil pickup pipe. I'll show than in a while.
I simply tapped the original feed hole and screwed a plug into it. Easy job..

Yunis A · 6th April 2006, 07:52 PM

coming along nicely...

Andy, there are lots of nasty looking sharp seams in the block, potential stress raisers.. smooth them away perharps?

R32 Combat · 6th April 2006, 08:04 PM

The 1st hard bit is the 4WD sump adapter. THe one I bought from Oz was a shocking bit of engineering and didn't fit. I decided to make my own.

This is about half way through fitting. I got my own blanks cut from the shape of the one from Oz. That was about the only thing that was right.

This is nearly finished. It took ages to make this but it was the best way to do it.

There are a few block mods to do as well, but I've not yet photographed them.

The next tricky bit is the sump. I bought one from RK tuning with metal sump baffles. These are better than rubber ones. The sump need adjusting for the external pickup pipe.
The 1st decision was what pickup to use. Althought the STD head will fit, I opted for a piece 20mm pipe from B&Q. I didn't want to restrict the pipe by putting the strainer gauze over the end so I spot welded the gauze over the gates on the baffle itself.

Here are some pics

STD RK extended sump and baffle

The STD oil pickup head inside. The flaps do open. There is enough room.(just)

Cut out marked for the new pipe.

The external flange.

The finished inside.

The external fitting.

R32 Combat · 6th April 2006, 08:19 PM

The water pump..

RB30 and N1 pumps.

Interestingly, here are 2 photos. One is the RB30 and one the RB26. Notice how much taller the block is from the block deck to the top of the water pump. The RB26 is flat and the RB30 is 40mm taller.

RB26

RB30

The next problem is the gearbox bellhousing bolts don't line up with the sump due to the fact a sump adapter is used.

To get round this problem, I chose to blank off the holes in the sump and start again. I also pluged a tapped hole and a plain hole in the gearbox too.

The hole are 10mm out of position, the thickness of the sump adapter.

Pulse D · 6th April 2006, 09:55 PM

It seems to be coming along nicely Andy...

Pikey · 7th April 2006, 11:33 AM

Well done Andy, this is exactly the sort of info we need on here

T.F.S. · 7th April 2006, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yunis A

coming along nicely...

Andy, there are lots of nasty looking sharp seams in the block, potential stress raisers.. smooth them away perharps?

can be smoothed but i dont think its an issue on this engine like it was on our vaux ones.., i just tickled them to make them less sharp but i didnt remove them, same with the rods

andy this is a cool thread

Marky_GTSt · 7th April 2006, 05:39 PM

Brilliant stuff, I cant imagine me ever building one, but im really enjoying reading about yours. Nice stuff to see.

Mark.

R32 Combat · 8th April 2006, 08:22 PM

The gearbox now fits and all the bolts are in. I'm glad I've got this done now. I had my reservations as to how well it would go but its gone well and I'm well chuffed.

This is the external oil pipe bit, I need to get the connecting pipe made up now.

A pic of the front so far.

The next bit is to re-build the head. Boring and very time consuming but I think its a worth while job. I need to see how much damage is caused to the exhaust valve seats by using anti-lag.

tim b · 8th April 2006, 08:30 PM

Brilliant write up, cheers for taking the time to document the build process.

It seems to be coming along nicely so far, best of luck with the remainder of the build. I'm looking forward to seeing this project finished.

P.S. Nice slippers.

R32 Combat · 8th April 2006, 09:21 PM

Ah, yes, my special garage slippers. A mans gotta be comfortable in his work.

R32 Combat · 10th April 2006, 07:44 PM

I've now stripped the head, cleaned it and lapped the valve seats.

I hope to machine out the valve spring retainers tomorrow to accept the peugeot deisel shims.

A few head pics..

stuartstaples · 10th April 2006, 07:57 PM

Epic stuff Andy, you must have serious cahoonas to take this on. Fair play mate

keith · 10th April 2006, 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by R32 Combat

I've now stripped the head

I hope you are going to fit new valve guides in your head

Keith

R32 Combat · 10th April 2006, 09:36 PM

Keith,

Obviously you think I should, where as I think I shouldn't. I made those guides and I'm not making anymore.

6th April 2006, 07:43 PM	#1 (permalink)
R32 Combat New Users Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Berkshire Posts: 4,342	RB30 engine conversion (lots of pics) I'm taking photos of my engine conversion for all to see. I've decided to fit an Nissan RB30 into my 1989 R32 GTR. It's not a super hard job, there are just a few tricky problems to solve. I don't know if my solutions are the best. They are just my solutions. I've asked where I can but some solutions are just not discussed. It's like its some big secret or something. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this thread. The 1st thing to do was fit the Jun oil pump drive collar to the crank. Notice how thin the RB30 STD drive collar is. Building the engine. 1st are a few shots of the block after cleaning. Next fitting the crank. All basic stuff so far. Next is the oil pump. I chose the JUN pump. It's cheap and quite a large capacity. The 1st photo is the STD pump with the threaded bumg in the end removed. You can see I blocked up the original oil feed hole. The RB30 oil feed pickup pipe is in a different place in the block so it can't be use with the GTR sump. You have to run an external oil pickup pipe. I'll show than in a while. I simply tapped the original feed hole and screwed a plug into it. Easy job..

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6th April 2006, 07:52 PM	#2 (permalink)
Yunis A Banned Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Middlesex Posts: 1,758	coming along nicely... Andy, there are lots of nasty looking sharp seams in the block, potential stress raisers.. smooth them away perharps?

6th April 2006, 08:04 PM	#3 (permalink)
R32 Combat New Users Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Berkshire Posts: 4,342	The 1st hard bit is the 4WD sump adapter. THe one I bought from Oz was a shocking bit of engineering and didn't fit. I decided to make my own. This is about half way through fitting. I got my own blanks cut from the shape of the one from Oz. That was about the only thing that was right. This is nearly finished. It took ages to make this but it was the best way to do it. There are a few block mods to do as well, but I've not yet photographed them. The next tricky bit is the sump. I bought one from RK tuning with metal sump baffles. These are better than rubber ones. The sump need adjusting for the external pickup pipe. The 1st decision was what pickup to use. Althought the STD head will fit, I opted for a piece 20mm pipe from B&Q. I didn't want to restrict the pipe by putting the strainer gauze over the end so I spot welded the gauze over the gates on the baffle itself. Here are some pics STD RK extended sump and baffle The STD oil pickup head inside. The flaps do open. There is enough room.(just) Cut out marked for the new pipe. The external flange. The finished inside. The external fitting.

6th April 2006, 08:19 PM	#4 (permalink)
R32 Combat New Users Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Berkshire Posts: 4,342	The water pump.. RB30 and N1 pumps. Interestingly, here are 2 photos. One is the RB30 and one the RB26. Notice how much taller the block is from the block deck to the top of the water pump. The RB26 is flat and the RB30 is 40mm taller. RB26 RB30 The next problem is the gearbox bellhousing bolts don't line up with the sump due to the fact a sump adapter is used. To get round this problem, I chose to blank off the holes in the sump and start again. I also pluged a tapped hole and a plain hole in the gearbox too. The hole are 10mm out of position, the thickness of the sump adapter.

6th April 2006, 09:55 PM	#5 (permalink)
Pulse D GTR Register Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Leicestershire Posts: 1,365	It seems to be coming along nicely Andy...

7th April 2006, 11:33 AM	#6 (permalink)
Pikey GTR Register Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Cheltenham Posts: 4,151	Well done Andy, this is exactly the sort of info we need on here

7th April 2006, 05:39 PM	#8 (permalink)
Marky_GTSt New Users Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Near Sheffield Posts: 3,015	Brilliant stuff, I cant imagine me ever building one, but im really enjoying reading about yours. Nice stuff to see. Mark.

8th April 2006, 08:22 PM	#9 (permalink)
R32 Combat New Users Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Berkshire Posts: 4,342	The gearbox now fits and all the bolts are in. I'm glad I've got this done now. I had my reservations as to how well it would go but its gone well and I'm well chuffed. This is the external oil pipe bit, I need to get the connecting pipe made up now. A pic of the front so far. The next bit is to re-build the head. Boring and very time consuming but I think its a worth while job. I need to see how much damage is caused to the exhaust valve seats by using anti-lag.

8th April 2006, 08:30 PM	#10 (permalink)
tim b GTR Register Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Lymington Hampshire Posts: 1,179	Brilliant write up, cheers for taking the time to document the build process. It seems to be coming along nicely so far, best of luck with the remainder of the build. I'm looking forward to seeing this project finished. P.S. Nice slippers.

8th April 2006, 09:21 PM	#11 (permalink)
R32 Combat New Users Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Berkshire Posts: 4,342	Ah, yes, my special garage slippers. A mans gotta be comfortable in his work.

10th April 2006, 07:44 PM	#12 (permalink)
R32 Combat New Users Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Berkshire Posts: 4,342	I've now stripped the head, cleaned it and lapped the valve seats. I hope to machine out the valve spring retainers tomorrow to accept the peugeot deisel shims. A few head pics..

10th April 2006, 07:57 PM	#13 (permalink)
stuartstaples New Users Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 1,252	Epic stuff Andy, you must have serious cahoonas to take this on. Fair play mate

10th April 2006, 09:36 PM	#15 (permalink)
R32 Combat New Users Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Berkshire Posts: 4,342	Keith, Obviously you think I should, where as I think I shouldn't. I made those guides and I'm not making anymore.