History: R32 GTSt RB20DET
The good old days...
The RB26DETT is THE ENGINE to have for all R31 onwards Skyline series, and then the next best thing is RB25DET or RB30ET with DOHC head. R31 and R32 Skyline came with RB20DET from factory, that engine in stock form does not propell the car any faster than less expensive S13 Silvia with SR20DET.
This black R32 Skyline GTSt was bought in Feb 1999 for just under $19,000AUD. None of the Silvia at that time really caught my attention, as the less expensive ones are not well maintained and the good ones are not cheap either. The idea to transplant more powerful engine was already thought of even before started looking around car yards.
The car then received little dress up parts after mid 1999 while garthering the funding for the engine transplant. A tiny cold air induct hole was cut, then replaced 2.5 inch exhaust system with 3 inch exhaust from turbo to highflow cat to 3 inch straight through muffler, GReddy Profec B boost controller and GReddy speed limiter remover.
Somehow the car get itself into the sticky situation of boost cut. The final decision to solve it was replace the factory engine management with programmable engine management. The unfortunate mistake was made by taking the car to the wrong car workshop. They recommended Haltech E6K over the plug'n'play APEXi PowerFC (PowerFC was not available for RB20DET at the time). It was all fine untill they started to break small bits and pieces and still can't get Haltech E6K to work. This obviously showed how lame the workshop was and probably still is.
Quick decision was made to use the same engine managment as what was in
ProSpool's VL RB26DETT, a MoTeC M8.
Lame workshop finally got the engine going again with MoTeC and they showed
their extremely lame professional approach by leaving the M8 with startup map
without any tuning for fuel or ignition. 120kW at rear wheels is all they can
come up with.
Paid them for the MoTeC and drove the car away. Later found the factory BOV
return pipe was not connected which made the car impossible to idle.
Moral of story: Do not just goto any car workshop, do your research before hand.
This unfortunate situation triggered the motivation to proceed with engine transplant project. Car was towed to Custom Exhaust Specialist, it sat outside their shop for a good two months before anything was discussed on paper. RB26DETT and a 5 speed R33 RB25DET manual gearbox were decided to be install into the car. The other suggestions were RB25DET head with RB30ET bottom end and VL turbo auto gearbox (RB20DET head does not flow enough for RB30ET bottom end which require massive port), and many more conversions from reading "Hyper Rev SKYLINE 25GT TURBO/GTS-t No.2" magazine. (Thanks Dave)
Small list below will give you some ideas what Japanese tuners can do with
R32 Skyline:
Non engine transplant:
RB20DET increased to 2.4 litre and big turbo ~400HP.
RB25DE turboed ~450HP.
Engine transplant:
SR20DET ~450HP and achieve 50/50 weight distribution ratio.
L28 increased to 3.1 litre and turbo ~500HP. (You have to see it to believe it)
RB25DET ~500HP. (Yawn)
RB26DETT single turbo 2.7 litre 600+HP. (Now we talking!)
If you crave for more Skyline related articles, you will need to get a copy of
Hyper Rev SKYLINE 25GT TURBO/GTS-t No.2 magazine.
Obviously RB26DETT has the most potential as there are some ~1200HP and more examples, so it makes sense to have the engine with lots more potential to start with then work on the engine in the later stage to chase more power. I have also seen video of R34 25GTt with RB26DETT went down the 1/4 mile in 9 seconds flat.
Engine and gearbox and tailshaft were sourced after few month. The factory turbos were still attached with the engine so there was no need to buy aftermarket turbos back then.
Then the slow process of remove old engine out, put new engine and new gearbox (with brand new clutch and pressure plate) in and many other small things here and there.
Somehow I managed to borrow a N15 Pulsar SSS during the engine transplant period, it was fun with that car and the Cheapie N15 Pulsur SSS mods was the result from too much driving in it.