'Krome' S14 N/A RB test build

[c72c]

Figure it's about time I get this posted.
It's been a year of slow work, mostly done in the past few weeks, but finally running and nearly ready to go. Just needs some tuning.
This is really just our test mule for now. We both will be leaving Okinawa in the next few months. Once in the states, Matt will be rebuilding this engine for a Z and I'll be building another for something else.

As of right now, at least that I can think of off the top of my head.

*Engine/Drivetrain-
RB25DE bottom end (R32 non vct)
RB26DETT Head (decked ~.5mm - 190PSI comp on a 26)
RB26DETT ITBs
100mm trumpets
Gt-R 444cc injectors
OS Giken twin plate
R33 clutch master cylinder
RB20 5spd transmission
S14 turbo driveshaft
Shimmed R180

*Cooling/Exhaust-
Coby D12 header (modified)
OBX RB26 flanges
modified mid-pipe
test pipe
RSR 2.5" cat-back
Cusco exhaust hangers

*Brain/Electrical-
Mega Squirt III
Modified RB25 and 26 harness (done by Matt)
Wideband and all other sensors wired into the MS3 brick
Honda V6 injector resistor

*Suspension/Chassis/Brakes-
R33 engine cross member
R33 automatic trans crossmember
Tein HE coil overs
Intense power toe links
Ebay RUCAs
GT-R rear sway bar
Cusco rear tower bar
R33 gts25t Brakes (f/r and cables)
R33 BMC
Cusco BMC stopper



The story behind the car...
Sometime around September '09, Jerome and I decided to go in on a track car so we didn't have to beat on our daily drivers... rather, he refused to slide his GT-R and I was selling my 14... and all the cool kids were teaming up and buying s14 track cars, so we had to do it too. So, he found this 14 and I bought it to get started.

It's a 97 Silvia, auto, 4 lug... completely stock, aside from the chopped up Mitsubishi grill someone put on it. The dude was getting ready to junk it so we picked it up for $600. (food for thought for all you fanboys selling your stock pos for 3-5k just saying.)






Originally started throwing all my spare parts on it.
5lug rear, r33 rear brakes, shimmed diff, rear adjustable links, suspension (rears ended up being blown and the front pillow balls were bad, so I put the Teins from my white 14 on it.







Running hella flush the end of the first day.


Next few days, got the front suspension on and the 5 speed swap done.










FGK header from my white 14


the rest of the exhaust


That was it for the initial setup for the track. Took it up and had a few rounds with it.
Matt joined in on the fun just after we got it to the track. Then he broke the header due to some ripped exhaust hangers, so we had had JP weld it back together.




and slid some more.




not necessarily in a fancy way, but we slid nonetheless. lol





After a few more track sessions, some cones getting wrapped up in the wheel well, and some fresh tires, we burned through the fender harness the third time which left us dead in the water.


Luckily, Matt and I had been talking about finishing the RB setup that was going to go into my old 13. The time was right, so he picked up another 25 to get started.

[c72c]

Matt got started on the engine while I was in Iraq.


26 head bolted on and some other parts.




Trumpets mocked up


Took it all down to JP to get the trumpets welded on the plates


















Mocked up on the engine




Then I ordered the header from New Zealand.


The header is originally for a 25DE. Since we are using the 26 head, we needed to cut the flanges and weld on the 26 flanges.






















Matt's work on the wiring and MS3








the jumper harness for the MS3

[c72c]

Then came the time to get the car down from the track to swap the engine.



Out with the SR (now on it's way to becoming a generator)




new rack bushings


R33 front brakes and 5lug


speed bleeders


In with the RB


Our original plan was to modify the stock 14 trans cross member...




Then we found out the R33 auto trans cross member is a perfect fit.




We had a problem with the #6 trumpet hitting the clutch master cylinder the first time around.






Josh cut some Derlin mounts for us. Dropped the engine 30mm, perfect clearance.








The end of the swap day



We still had a lot to take care of. Fender harness for one thing.




From there, we were waiting on more parts and some more final touches on the wiring, so I went ahead and threw on some random stuff on.
Top Secret hood pins


Rain gaurds


Rear window smoke screen thing


Kouki eyelids... not quite lined up at the time.


Some decals


Steering wheel

....

[c72c]

Then came the throttle linkage bracket. This is also just a temporary set up since we're running out of time.






















Rigged the radiator in place.


And got back to working on the rest of the car.




Had to drop the transmission. We were having some issues with the clutch. The pedal would go to the floor like there was air in the line, but we bled it three times so there couldn't have been.


Turned out being a bent pressure plate spring. Fixed, installed and all set.


Now we just need finish the exhaust, tune it some more, align it and get it up to the track.
---
Here are some videos of the last few days, getting it running and such.









and the attempt to catch the sound of the ITBs... didn't work as well as I had hoped...they sound gorgeous in person.

[Hoffman5982]

Looks good. There's a lot of room for cleaning up, but whatever floats your boat I guess

[Paint209]

damn for 600$ i think i wana go to japan now. LOL

[k0013]

this is exactly the kind of swap i would like to do for my 240z project. would like an aussi rb 30 block though. bad ass man!

[c72c]

Originally Posted by Hoffman5982

Looks good. There's a lot of room for cleaning up, but whatever floats your boat I guess

Believe me, I know. But I leave in 3 months, he leaves soon after so we're not too worried about it. It's just to get a feel for the engine and see what needs to be done when it's time to build the next two.

Originally Posted by k0013

this is exactly the kind of swap i would like to do for my 240z project. would like an aussi rb 30 block though. bad ass man!

Thanks.
Matt is contemplating using the RB30 bottom end. He's looking more into it now.
If you plan to drift, it would be better to turbo it though... at least from what I've heard/read.

[project-D180]

ill build bro,lovin them itb's

[fliprayzin240sx]

Booo...we dont need a drift missile thread!!! So who's gonna end up with the car after you and Matt leave?

[atom]

NA RB26 was totally what I wanted to do to my S14 a long time ago. What's the HKS VPC for?

[deathrace2000]

Cool engine.

[Sileighty_85]

Very Nice, I meant to come see this in person when I was There a few months ago visiting the inlaws if it was still at the AHS.

[ILoveMyRHS13]

Mind if I ask why you went with an RB20 trans? I always thought they were rather weak?

[fliprayzin240sx]

Originally Posted by ILoveMyRHS13

Mind if I ask why you went with an RB20 trans? I always thought they were rather weak?

Because they're cheap and more plentiful compared to RB25 trannies. RB20 transmissions are almost free since most folks just throw away their RB20s. RB25 transmission alone will sell for $500 out there...

[c72c]

Originally Posted by atom

NA RB26 was totally what I wanted to do to my S14 a long time ago. What's the HKS VPC for?

Basically enables us to run off a MAP rather than MAF.

Originally Posted by ILoveMyRHS13

Mind if I ask why you went with an RB20 trans? I always thought they were rather weak?

The main reason we chose the 20 trans is so we could use the stock drive shaft. It's not as easy getting a driveshaft made here as it is in the states.
We also don't have a need for the 25 trans. We won't be putting out enough power or torque where we would need one that strong. The 20 will do just fine.
As for what Ray said, that's pretty much all the other reasons. We picked this one up for $50.

[doke! ドリフト]

Cant wait to tandem with that beast...or drive it lol

[atom]

Originally Posted by c72c

Basically enables us to run off a MAP rather than MAF.

Doesn't the megasquirt already run natively off a GM MAP?

I'm guessing you wired the megasquirt piggyback style to let the stock ECU control emissions, NVCS and all that junk. Only reason I can think of to go VPC route.

[c72c]

Originally Posted by ry-guy

Cant wait to tandem with that beast...or drive it lol

You can do both, as long as I can drive the 13.

Originally Posted by atom

Doesn't the megasquirt already run natively off a GM MAP?

I'm guessing you wired the megasquirt piggyback style to let the stock ECU control emissions, NVCS and all that junk. Only reason I can think of to go VPC route.

You're right. This is all Matt's area of expertise, I just asked him about it right now though. He ended up using the on board MAP from the MS. He's going to use the GM MAP once he gets back to the states with it since it will eliminate the vacuum hose we have going to the ECU right now.

Originally we were going to be using an RB20 ECU and use the VPC with it. This is where I got mixed up. I just took everything we had listed for the original build and put it together. Sorry for the confusion.

[HPKMotorsports3]

Sweet build!

[Draggin A$$]

Nice I can't wait to see this at the track!!

[kouki-gymkhana]

This is my dream motor build! N/A RB with ITBs in a stripped out shaved s13 would be bonkers!

[rb20240sx]

Damn that's awesome for a na. I want itb's

[winstonusmc]

Just want to chime in on this build. We went with the RB transmission as they are plentyful, cheap, lite, bolt in w/ stock driveshaft, and the NA RB isnt a torque monster. I was planning the HKS VPC for a little while as sort of a way to get it on the road. I wanteded something that would control ITBs better because a MAP sensor will start losing resolution in the higher RPMs when the ITBs will be just too quick when the throttle changes. This is where the Megasquirt comes in with its mixed MAP/Alpha-N mode that switches back and forth from MAP to Throttle Posistion to read from the sensor that will give the best response. MAP at low rpm and tps at higher rpm. A lot of things we are doing now is seeing what would work best as this ECU is rarely paired up with a Nissan motor. Now with native CAS support for the SR/KA/RB cam sensors, a world will open up for Megasquirt and Nissans.

[c72c]

Thanks for clearing things up Matt.

[fatduece]

Very interesting. I was slowly scrolling down, hoping there were more then just one page =( Keep up the work!

[ZilviaKid]

my imaginary engine setup

very cool! cant wait for more updates

[c72c]

Awesome day!
Key learning experience... If you want to find out if you have front diff mount washers without looking under the car, pull the e-brake without pushing in the cluch... when it happens, you'll know.

During or after the next tuning/slide session, we'll have to throw the good tires on the front. Granted it was wet today, better tires up front would have helped a little.
I started to get pretty comfortable with the setup, tried to push it near the end but it was just to wet to do any good.
The rear sway bar seems to make a big difference, and it probably saved half the ass end of the car today. lol When the front of the diff fell, the driveshaft rested on the sway bar keeping it all in place. Ended up grinding half the nut for the driveshaft off, but all turned out good.

Once I get caught up on sleep and get some time, I'll edit all the video I got and get something up.


PS... Under load, peddle down... it sounds amazing!

[OBEEWON]

The ONLY thing I wish was different was the location of the throttle stuff. Such a shame to cover any of the ITBs.

Very cool stuff though.

[c72c]

Originally Posted by OBEEWON

The ONLY thing I wish was different was the location of the throttle stuff. Such a shame to cover any of the ITBs.

Very cool stuff though.

Thanks.
I understand. The original plan was to make a throttle bracket under the stacks, but since we took so long to get everythign else done, we just needed something functional for now.
Next month it's getting stripped since we both PCS soon, so most of the not pretty stuff is just a temporary fix.