RB25 powered FD Build!
 

Hi everyone, I wanted to share my build with you even though I will probably get hated on.

I purchased this car from twomucboost4u on here, who is a great guy to deal with, anyway I am already half way into this so here it is:

I will be updating you guys with pictures, mod list, and the price of the build as I go along...

To start it is a 94' Montego Blue FD3S Roller with tan interior, 80k miles on body, most of the interior was mismatched and messed up when I bought it, but has been changed out with new interior parts I purchased from a nice guy parting out the exact same car, even got the bose system.

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Project Expenses
-94 FD roller..........................$4200+$1300 shipping
-RB25det....................................3000
-Apexi N1 Dual catback................300
-Mckinney downpipe....................150
-Greddy Type R bov.....................180
- Greddy catch can........................80
-all new interior parts...................100
- battery and relocation kit............130
-shift knob......................................5
-Godspeed Intercooler...................190
-ebay ic piping..............................100
-Greddy Turbo Timer.......................20
-Autometer water temp and boost..75
-parts car with 99 spec wing...........500
- 17x9 and 17x8 Borbet wheels
with Bridgestone Potenza RE730's...200+parts car without wing
- new clutch master..........................40
-Aftermarket radiator+fan................108
-Nismo thermostat............................75
-Megan Coilovers..............................700

up to date Total:...........................$11323

here are more pics,

engine bay
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took dash out to replace a/c components
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some parts that came and are on their way
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the rb
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bad cell phone pics, better pics will be up soon...

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custom motor mounts, tranny mounts , and diff mounts are already made, steering rack was taking out and modified as well as the oil pan.....more pics soon

im going to need help tuning my suspension, compensating for extra weight and what not, do you guys have any idea how i should go about this? its going to be a drift car

so does everyone hate me?

Good luck on the project man. Haven't seen too many RB attempts in the FD chassis, but they are a very capable powerplant for sure.

I have no idea where you'd go for tuning your suspension, but that sounds like something a performance shop would have a better grasp of. You're quite a bit of distance from San Diego so I can't help there either. lol

Good luck man

thanks man, im going to try ang get good pics of the mounts tomorrow, and get my new wheels on the car...

Looking forward to seeing videos and complete pictures of the project when you're done. Are you going to be keeping A/C and P/S with this project? Is it going to fit under the stock hood clearance wise?

You could have done a 1jz-gte swap for much less. The 1jz is a far superior motor to the RB25 in every way because the RB25 is trash. Take apart the 2 motors and you will see why.

Not "hating" on your project, just telling you the truth.

Good luck.

yea i will have a/c and p/s, and it will fit just fine, i will post a vid up when im done

i was thinking to build an fd with rb26, but not much funds as i have spent a lot on my current one.
looks good ..

and +1 on twomucboost4u

ok here are some pics from today, i took the valve covers off, and the cover on the front. Im going to shine them up and repaint, i will be replacing the timing belt while i have it off too, o and i stuck the back wheels on there
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the motor mounts are just spot spot welded right now, i need to pull motor back out and finish them, also once my lift gets fixed im going to redrill and tap all the mounts for 14mm bolts instead of 12mm because this tranny is way heavier then the stock one...

Wow that is sweet,I'm excited to see the finish product!

well thank you, this thing is going to be finished around thanksgiving

oil pan finished up today!

.

Project Expenses
-94 FD roller..........................$4200+$1300 shipping
-RB25det....................................3000
-Apexi N1 Dual catback................300
-Greddy Type R bov.....................180
- Greddy catch can........................80
-all new interior parts...................100
- battery and relocation kit............130
-shift knob......................................5
-Godspeed Intercooler...................190
-ebay ic piping..............................100
-Greddy Turbo Timer.......................20
-Autometer water temp and boost..75
-parts car with 99 spec wing...........500
- 17x9 and 17x8 Borbet wheels
with Bridgestone Potenza RE730's...200+parts car without wing
- new clutch master..........................40
-Aftermarket radiator+fan................108
-Nismo thermostat............................75
-Megan Coilovers..............................700
-new timing belt.................................40

up to date Total:...........................$11213

interesting stuff, looking good so far.
nice to see something different.
the RB25 is a great motor, its sure not a WORLD DOMINATING RB26DETT but its a fine start for a gnarly sportscar, props for the work already into getting it all working.

nice to see a swapped FD on a budget, its crazy how much $$$ even a rolling chassis FD sells for, damn.

thanks,


many of my parts just came in, im goign to hopefully get the radiator and intercooler on this weekend, the valve cover is being polished right now, ill get that on next weekend as well...

nice build man. the welds could be cleaned up better. i would add more strength to the diff also.

RB25 is a nice motor

but the manifold is so Gay...

please install the greddy style one..

and I'm amazed how expensive the motor costs as well

in my neck of the woods.. and RB25 sells for $800-$900

you just cut the subframe and left the suspension attachments on the car...

Not to break down this project but it is a structural part of the frame in the front (rigidity). No doubt you'll fab up some other bracing in between the (lower) suspension mounts to compensate for that. Still you'll need to change the steering linkage position and deal with bump steer... how will you fix that?

once my lift gets fixed, im going to add a bar going to the diff to the tranny mount, and retap all holes for 14mm bolts

the steering rack had to be spaced down an 1'', and the oil pan had to be completely custom, if i have bump steer it wont be enough to notice it and if it really was a factor they make sway bars or logated bolts to correct it, thanks for all the comments

You won't notice bumpsteer? :lol:

Sway bars and "logated bolts" to correct it? Why didn't the 2JZ guys think of this? :lol:

I questioned you on www.stldrift.com about bumpsteer as well but your buddies deleted my posts? What's up with that? :lol:

are you being sarcastic, or are you agreeing with me?

what in the hell.

Wow... nice to see the project moving along so quickly... As far as the bumpsteer your walking a fine line to have that amount of bumpsteer with a lot of weight in the front and high HP is going to be a task to take on not saying its wont be driveable but your going to have a hard time keeping control while trying to put power down in a turn... Going straight will be fun though :) thats was a problem with a lot fo the first 20b and 2jz and LS1 biulds was the bump steer problem which they ended up completely re-designing the kit around the steering so that little to know bumpsteer is present. Much props on the biuld though and I will stay posted to see how this thing come along...

Chris

thanks man, im doing the swap with a friend of mine who ownes a local performance shop, he really knows his stuff, we will see about the steering thing.....

to end all the fighting about the bump steer... if you lowered the steering rack 1" the buy a 1" bumpsteer kit! end of story. they make them as large as 2.5" kits

thanks pal!

do you guys know of a good bumpsteer correction kit?

research before diving in head first

i researched 2 years before i did this, i know how to correct it, im asking if theres a kit that anyone recommends

hinson builds a good one. it has many diff options for size. grannyspeed has one also.
think i paid 125-175? cant remember?

ok thanks man! i will look it to these if bumpsteer becomes an issue

I would like to know how the RB25 is a nice motor. I think of it as a paperweight compared to a 1jz-gte or any real performance I-6 that costs a fraction of what it costs in the states.

i agree, but not with the 1jz. the rb is a much more expensive to mod than the 2jz and has .5 less ltrs.
wouldnt be my option, but its not my build and its his car. so he can do what he wants

I am not saying he can't do what he wants, i fail to see what is the performance to be gained from something that was better off at a junkyard? 1000-1500 bucks for the engine? Maybe ok, 3000? Ripoff for the performance.

A 1j revs much faster than a 2j, and it shares the same block. In fact the rods are stronger due to the shorter stroke. It's cheaper to build than an RB25, and can have close to 300 whp with just 2-3 bolt ons. Not to mention it suffers none of the weaknesses.

If he's just wasting money just for the sake of it. That's fine.

Just trying to find out if there is any real gain? Why do people seem to think these bottom feeder, weak, economy engines (RB20DET, RB25DET) are fast or even good for anything?

Power?

Weight?

what?

i will have 300hp by buying a boost controller and turning up boost, im not looking for more power then that, im keeping it mostly stock, if i wanted a jz motor i would have bought one lol, i have had rb's i know them and i like them, it would have have cost the same for me to do 2jz swap, i don't know where you guys get these engines so cheap, but i live in belleville, il and everything ranges 2200-3500 for sr, rb20, rb25, rb26, 1jz, 2jz, ls1

Ease up, let the man build his car the way he wants to. It's very uncool of you to put down his engine choice in your initial post about his project. :icon_tdow

my thought is, if you wanted to drop in a 4G63T, LSx, 351ci,289ci or a blown ford 4banger then do it and enjoy. :icon_tup:

Hey there buddy,

Fair play on you for the conversion and having the balls to do it! I am with you all the way. As you know I am hoing to do an RB26 one in the next year or so.. Still have some other porjects to complete first.. Just doing my research in my spare time..

I too love the RB motors.. there are plenty of debates as to which is the best motor RB26 or JZ.. It was pointed out to me that Top secret took a JZ from a supra to put an RB in as they wanted the best engine and best chassis combo!? If you do a google you'll find its not the ony time it's been done either! I think power per cc the RB has the edge and if you are talking massive power then no matter which you have you are talking 1000's to get there. Regards reliablity yes the jz is possibly a more bomb proof motor but it's not like the RB is weak.. it has a small oil feed problem which can relatively cheapily be overcome with aftermarket pumps and drive collar.
Each to there own.. They both sound awesome and have massive potential that's for sure.. At the end of the day it's what you now best in some ways.. better the devil you know than the one you don't..

My main experiences are with the RB motors never been near a toyota!

Yea, i have never had a problem with the 9 nissan egines i have had, ka,sr,rb you name it there good engines, well maybe not so much ka, but you get my point.


And by the way I have decided to completely restructure the way im doing my intake/intercooler/radiator setup, i sold the intercooler and radiator i was originaly going to use and i bought a different intake mani to get rid of the stock one that goes over the engine, i also bought a watercooled intercooler that will will sit almost directly infront of the engine so that piping can be as short as possible, this will allow for added throttle response and cooling, i will also be able to use the stock rb radiator too for now, the way i was going to do it before was makiing me skimp on radiator and intercooler size to fit everything, by removing the stock intake i can raise the engine back up so there will be no steering or ground clearence issues!

Sorry if it was uncool of me, i am just being a realist.

That's all.

Glad you can see that.

http://forums.freshalloy.com/showthread.php?t=161095

Read that, and the following links and come back to me.

Nevermind that i am building a car that has an RB in it, i must have done no research on this topic.

silly me. :wallbash: :wallbash: :wallbash:

Get over it.

I agree with miata_mx5,

Aside from the lack of performance gain of any kind, addition of weight ahead of the steering rack, and bumpsteer issues this will be a great build.

Good Luck!
Barban.

there is no bumpsteer issue now, the way im doing it steering wont get touched

I dont see why everyoneis hating... The man wants to put in a RB motor let him put in a damn RB motor... To each his own... and thats exactly what he is doing making it his own... RB..JZ..13b..LS what does it matter... They are all engines that have pros and cons some people like to stay in there comfort zone... Sounds to me he has been around Nissan motors for a while and knows a bit about thats and hes comfortable with them. As far as performance I dont think I have ever heard anyone complain about it... It's 6 cylinders with a turbo... Every damn part on the motor can be upgraded and the motor can make an easy 600hp which is probably all you need on the street to beat I dont know 99.9 percent of cars... So stop beating the guy up and sit back and enjoy the biuld...

Chris