Hootah

I was looking into getting a 240 and i had a couple general questions about the rb20det swap. For those of you that have done the swap how much did it cost you? Also did you do the work yourself or have a shop do it? I am planning on doing the work myself. And finally the most subjective question are you happy with the way it turned out? Also if there are any words of wisdom you could give me while i'm considering the rb20 those would be appriciated also.

Thanks in advance!

iroc07

I am completing the swap now. just put the motor in cause my clutch finally showed up today. I need to do wiring and then its off to make nasty one-legged burnouts all over the place till I get a LSD, but anyway.
its kinda hard to answer your questions without knowing more about you and your situation. if you have to answer no to any of the following questions you should seek the help of a pro, or someone that has done this many many times.
things like:
have you ever done any type of motor swap before?

will you have lots of extra money handy for stuff you didnt know you needed?


Do you have a place with tools to do it? (properly, if you are trying it outside, or in anything but a decent setup shop, the answer is no)

if you had to answer no to any of that, I would think twice about an RB swap. I love the motor and the power, and the sound, but its not worth all the headaches if you arent setup for it.

as far as price, thats hard to.
you want a beat, high miles S13 and you get lucky with parts and your clip. I would say you could keep it under $3500 doing it yourself.

S14 lots of good parts, and someone else doing it and charging full shop rate (ouch, thank god I dont have to pay that anymore) you would be lucky to keep it under $11,500

please dont take offense if you are a good mechanic with a nice shop, I was just using broad generallizations.

as for tips:

label and organize everything, I mean everything, did I make it clear? EVERYTHING!!!!! because I dont care who you are, you will not remember all of it unless you have done the same swap 50 times.

get a clip, so much easier, and you dont have the suprises of thinking yuou have everything only to be nickel and dimed to death for stuff to get going.

if I think of anything more I will let you know.

if you want to get the stuff you can bring it over and we will crack open a few brews and do it in a weekend, haha, my shop rate is much cheaper, I often work for beer and parts.
later

Id-

notice you wont get any dynocharts from people doing the rb20 swap with stock turbo (or even upgraded ones for that matter)

jonpowell

What about dyno charts for your cars, where are they?

I am calling YOU out.

Hootah

Thanks for the good advice. I guess the RB probably is not for me. This is my first swap and it sounds like i should go with something simpler. Not that any swap is simple - haha. I do have a garage and some knowledgable friends so i would like to have some kind of project to work on. Would an SR swap be much easier / cheaper?

rkcarguy

The Rb20/S13 swap is pretty easy, just expect to install electric fans and the wiring is different, but there's enough of us on here that did the swap that it can be dealt with. The swap bolts in using the Skyline crossmembers and stock driveline. With any turbo swap the intercooler and piping is going to be the hardest part of the install for DIYer's. Like someone else said get a clip for sure tho, because these parts are hard to get by themselves because there's alot more importers that sell engine sets then there is clips and complete swaps. Check out my sticky post about japanese engines, and the "RB20 is going in" post there's lots of good picks in there about my swap.