RB head on an L series block

SKiddell

Well-Known Forum User
Waterways, oilways and I think bores are misaligned, oh and there is the minor issue of an RB head being belt driven versus an L series chain drive, other than that its a doddle.

As I mentioned in another post, there is a guy in the states who made a twin cam head by cutting up 2 (or 3) 200sx heads (240sx in the states) bolting them together and making a chain drive:eek:

I am sure someone will post the next most popular tuning question "If I spoke to OS Giken would they entertain a group buy for the TC24"
 
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pmac

Well-Known Forum User
Waterways, oilways and I think bores are misaligned, oh and there is the minor issue of an RB head being belt driven versus an L series chain drive, other than that its a doddle.

As I mentioned in another post, there is a guy in the states who made a twin cam head by cutting up 2 (or 3) 200sx heads (240sx in the states) bolting tehm together and making a chain drive:eek:

I am sure someone will post the next most popular tuning question "If I spoke to OS Giken would they entertain a group buy for the TC24"

If we had a group buy how much discount would we get??:confused:

and also... is this a better engine than a Samuri???
 

richiep

Club Member
If you were trying to go for an NA twin cam approach, probably the easiest (and cheapest) solution would be to fit an RB25DE. Not a significant gain over the standard Ls, but tunable and seeing as the Skyline guys don't want them, a fraction of the cost of a turbo RB. There's a couple of guys down under that have done the DE swap, both going with triple DCOE-style throttle bodies on custom manifolds. Very cool solution with an S20 sort of vibe. Plus Rocky Auto in Japan have been banging triple Mikunis onto RB25s and 26s for ages.

Of course it depends on how sacriligious you think engine swaps are (you are very much an L-series man are you not Sean? :) )

Pete - remember, ALL of us with triple carbs have Samuri engines! :rolleyes: :lol:
 

johnymd

Club Member
I've always thought the RB25DE was a great engine to go in a Z. You would have to loose the intake system and go with individual throtle bodies for looks though.

Trouble is, the temptation of cheap turbo power was too great.
 

Wyn

Club Member
Trouble is .... turbo power .... was too great.

So say I

I luv the sound of n.a and V8, carbs and throttle bodies all sound the t1ts

But imho, turbo power is the way to go wit your hybrid Zed :cool:

Booost me up ;)
 

SeanDezart

Well-Known Forum User
Of course it depends on how sacriligious you think engine swaps are (you are very much an L-series man are you not Sean? :) )

Pete - remember, ALL of us with triple carbs have Samuri engines! :rolleyes: :lol:

I thought Wolfies meant a Samuri ?:confused:

'ell yes ! BUT......the only two swaps I'd consider are an LS1 or to keep it Nissan and have a cute DOHC and even try to make it look period - an RB and then probably a '30' and I don't like turbos (I do like compressors) and silly S30 power - no point in power-sliding and burn-outs - I played that with my Matchbox cars as a kid !
 

richiep

Club Member
After a quick net search I found a figure for the standard RB25DE - 188bhp. So you are talking similar territory to a relatively beefy L28. There are plenty of mods available (cams, tubular manifolds, etc, etc,) that could help push that up though. Still looking for figures on the RB30DE - Holden Commodore websites are the ones to check out!
 

SeanDezart

Well-Known Forum User
Call me stupid........but what is a Nissan engine doing in a Holden ? I thought that they were V8s and Holden like Ford wanted Nissan and their turbos out of Bathurst ?
 

SKiddell

Well-Known Forum User
Richie good find, the NA looks good in there not a bad install throughout:thumbs:
I love the guys optimism

"With some good cams and clever mods, over 250 should be attainable. " if he's talking RWHP thats around 305 HP at the fly from an NA 2.5 litre (122 hp/litre).....possibly a little ambitious.
 

NickF

Well-Known Forum User
What about BMW S54 about 160 kg about same weight as L24? and 350hp
Would it fit?
Could be fun.


Nick
 

nzeder

Forum User
Bring this back to life :D

There is a guy in OZ installing a S50B32 into his zed. He has some stuff to work through - clutch M/C setup given the BMW leans the other way to the typical RB install + he is installing the engine as far back as be can. I have helped him with some direction the M/C setup as I have used a Toyota AE86 item on my RB25/26DE conversion (I am one that is running DCOE ITB on my hybrid setup) so I will have airbox/trumpet clearances ;)

I would not install a S54 into a anything - just check around some BMW forums you might find they can split the block when pushed in race conditions - but then if that is not your thing then the S54 is a good engine.

Also with work the RB head could work on the L block but you would need CNC machine access + foundary etc to make a new front half of the head to convert to chain drive, weld the new front to the RB head etc. The cost would be large = use the RB head on the RB block - that is why I have gone the path I have.
 

SKiddell

Well-Known Forum User
Also with work the RB head could work on the L block but you would need CNC machine access + foundary etc to make a new front half of the head to convert to chain drive, weld the new front to the RB head etc. The cost would be large

As mentioned previously, the cylinder pitch of the RB versus the L series is different so no it wont work (practically) and even if you did have your own foundry and £500K of machining equipment what you end up with isnt as good as an RB 30 with an RB26 head on it at a fraction of the cost....QED
 

Ian

Club Member
This does work, it has been done:

583c6647.jpg
 
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