Project RBZ - RB26 Swapped 240Z

[Ian]

The single vs twin argument is one I've gone back and forth on in my mind multiple times but have decided to go single due to it being easier to work on, simpler and easier to manage the heat

Was looking through some photos this evening and when I saw these I thought of this.

They don't half get hot, although most of the heat is the manifolds and since there is a lot more manifold with a single setup perhaps the smaller surface area of a single turbo would be about equalled out compared to a twin setup by this.

 

[Garaculas]

Was looking through some photos this evening and when I saw these I thought of this.

They don't half get hot, although most of the heat is the manifolds and since there is a lot more manifold with a single setup perhaps the smaller surface area of a single turbo would be about equalled out compared to a twin setup.

Blimey, they’re getting very hot indeed! Yeah I think you’re right, what exhaust setup and size pipe are you using on that setup?

 

[Ian]

Blimey, they’re getting very hot indeed! Yeah I think you’re right, what exhaust setup and size pipe are you using on that setup?

That was on the dyno right after several high boost runs. Pre turbo temps can get close to 900'c

Running Tomei turbo elbows and a 3" exhaust. Actually going to be making a new downpipe to be equal length this time and will be starting with 68-70mm pipes stepping up to 3" at the y pipe.

 

[Garaculas]

It’s been a long time since the last update and I’ve made some great steps despite not having much time to work on it.

Firstly I’ve mocked everything up for the RHD swap. Someone decided to put a roll cage in which has made it much more work to get the pedal box and dash mounted but after a lot of attempts it’s all mocked up.









I can’t tell you how exciting it was to sit on the right side of the car for the first time and hold the steering wheel. Priceless.

As you can see I’ve notched the pedal box, removed the rear bolts from the steering column and trimmed a lot of the end of the dash frame. The plan is to strengthen these bits with some extra material before painting them and then rebuilding into the car. I then need to trim the dash skin to also accommodate the cage and then attach it back to the frame as delicately as possible. It’ll need reconditioning at some point but that’s not a priority for now!

 

[Garaculas]

I’ve also bought a few key pieces to go with the Techno Toy Tuning R200 rear end conversion kit I’ll be buying at the end of the year.

First off an R200 short nose viscous LSD from an R34 Skyline. It’s in great condition, low mileage and comes with the ABS sensors which I plan to wire into my Haltech ECU for traction control




The other good thing about this Diff is there’s a huge selection of upgraded LSD offerings for these so going forward when the factory LSD doesn’t cut it I’ve got options on the shelf

Next up is a pair of CV driveshafts to match the aforementioned diff. The T3 kit comes with new equal length centre shafts so I’ll rebuild and refresh these once that kit arrives but they’re in great condition and the threads on the end are all very clean thankfully!



Then the final piece for these 3 is the hubs! I spent ages trying to find some 4x114.3 hubs from an S14 200sx and thankfully found some in the end thanks to Facebook marketplace of all places!



I’ve done a test fit and everything matches up together so really happy to have these pieces waiting in the wings.

 

[Rob Gaskin]

Good work with adapting the dash. Most 'off the peg' roll cages don't have a cross-brace behind the dash - yours looks strong.

 

[Garaculas]

The other big bit of recent news is the steering rack and front subframe setup. I’ve bought a nice condition Subaru WRX steering rack but didn’t want to spend lots of time cutting and adapting the standard subframe to fit so instead I bought a tubular version from Apex Engineered in the USA. The other benefits of this is that I can buy it with the RB26 engine mounts ready to go, extra front triangulation bars for added stiffness and an RB25 gearbox mount.









I found a photo online comparing a standard front subframe to an Apex one and I thought “yeah, I reckon that’ll fit without needing to be hacked apart!”. Thankfully this time it seems my luck has paid off and, despite needing to make some new power steering lines, we have plenty of space!











Some of the pipes may be a little tight but hopefully I can work out a nice routing for them all once it’s all in. I’ve also got some room to manoeuvre things a bit so before I make the new top straps and alter the bottom ones I’ll get the engine in and triple check.

Good thing is the steering colum lines up really nicely with the new input shaft so I just need to order an appropriate UJ, cut the old end off and weld the new one onto the end.



So yeah, that’s the current progress! I’ve bought a new welder so am doing some test welds at the moment before i tackle all the bulkhead work but all being well that’s the next thing.

Then once it’s all welded back together it’s going to be paint and under seal, oh joy

 

[Wally]

I was playing with the same idea. I ran into issues with clearance of the UJ on the input shaft of the steering rack and engine mount. Definitely something I'm going to come back to though.

 

[Garaculas]

I was playing with the same idea. I ran into issues with clearance of the UJ on the input shaft of the steering rack and engine mount. Definitely something I'm going to come back to though.

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Interesting! Great to see another member doing the same Yours looks a bit further over than mine and your UJ is one of the bulky misshapen ones. I was looking at getting one of these from Borgeson:



Lower profile at the input end and I reckon I could change that nut for a grub screw or something a bit lower profile if needed? Failing that I can always weld onto the rack end and have a splined attachment on the column end.

Out of interest what spline size did you need for yours?

 

[Ian]

Looks like some great work going on here. Its coming on well.

 

[Wally]

Interesting! Great to see another member doing the same Yours looks a bit further over than mine and your UJ is one of the bulky misshapen ones. I was looking at getting one of these from Borgeson:

View attachment 45289

Lower profile at the input end and I reckon I could change that nut for a grub screw or something a bit lower profile if needed? Failing that I can always weld onto the rack end and have a splined attachment on the column end.

Out of interest what spline size did you need for yours?

The UJ is a standard WRX one. I'm unsure on the size unfortunately. Picked it up for a couple of quid to play around with dimensions.

I had a few options on how I was going to get it to all fit correctly, either entending the input shaft for clearance from the mount or a slimmer profile UJ. Both are still going to be tight.

Have a look into banjo fittings for the power steering lines. That was my plan for some of the tighter fitting spots.

 

[Jay.]

Looks good Ed! Not tempted to go for some different hubs? 4x 114.3 wheels are pretty rare in good fitment!

 

[Garaculas]

The UJ is a standard WRX one. I'm unsure on the size unfortunately. Picked it up for a couple of quid to play around with dimensions.

I had a few options on how I was going to get it to all fit correctly, either entending the input shaft for clearance from the mount or a slimmer profile UJ. Both are still going to be tight.

Have a look into banjo fittings for the power steering lines. That was my plan for some of the tighter fitting spots.

Thanks for the info and cracking idea on the banjo bolts, could well be the answer!

Looks good Ed! Not tempted to go for some different hubs? 4x 114.3 wheels are pretty rare in good fitment!

Thanks man Funnily enough 5 stud would of been much easier but since I managed to find some, as you say, super rare Watanabe RS Eight’s (see page 4) I had to spend the time to find some 4 studs. I’ll give them a paint with new studs and bearings so they’ll be like new anyway and can go 5 stud pretty easily in future if I want to

 

[Rushingphil]

Looking like great progress Ed

 

[Garaculas]

So after almost 9 months of not touching the car, thanks to letting my job get me down too much, i've finally gathered the drive to start again.

Wanted to start with some low hanging fruit so decided to replace the rear wheel bearings on the new rear hubs. The hubs are off of an S14, so they are 4x114 and allow me to use my Watanabes. After removing the old bearing assemblies it turned out the lower inner race stayed stuck on the inner shaft... Tried a bearing puller but couldn't get the access i needed so the only option was to just grind them off.







Really happy with how they came out and a good little feel good project to get me back into the swing of things

 

[Garaculas]

Next up i wanted to get back onto the welding for the firewall after changing from LHD to RHD. I had a small section first that i wanted to do as a trial, as i got the welder settings dialled in, so went about making a template, cutting it out and welding it in. Neither of these bits will be on show as the bulkhead panel goes over the top so its just to add strength and stiffness back into the firewall.

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Really chuffed with how this came out, as i said it wont be on show but nice to know its all fitting nicely and smoothed off.

Next up was filling the big hole, i cut up a cardboard template, made it out of steel, clamped it in place, welded it in and ground it all back.









Really chuffed with how these came out and they feel solid as a rock. Next steps are to fill in the old drivers side with the new pressed panel, cut the holes for the accessories in the new drivers side and then put the panel over the top to strengthen it all.

Hoping to get back on it this weekend and definitely got the mojo back now so watch this space