These nuggets seem more common than Commodores these days! Just about to start tuning my new RB25DET so I thought I'd put some pics up. It has been built with drag racing in mind although it may get a bit of street driving every now and then. I stuck with the 25 to see what could be done with one. The 3L option would make more horsepower but two of the companies that are involved in the car do most of their work and sell most of their gear to RB25/R33 owners so I thought we could use this car as an example of their expertise. This was it when it had the stock engine in it and used to run 11.6 @ 118-120mph. I chucked a GT35 on it and went racing again but when the gas came in, the ****ty chinese manifold and 38mm gate couldn't deal with it and it saw 29psi when it was only tuned for 20psi. The ringlands on number one piston broke and I was stuck with a motor that sounded for all the world like a diesel SR20. The rebuild began as a freshened up stocker and snowballed to an all-out engine build with new pistons, rods, cams, headwork, exhaust and intake manifolds, ecu, the list just went on and on. I didn't want to have the oil pump dramas that lots of RB's seem to have but at the same time, I didn't want to go to a dry sump. I bought a High Energy sump pan and had it modified so the pickup joined a -12 fitting at the front of the pan. This supplies the single stage Peterson oil pump that is driven from a belt drive off the front of the crank. The bottom end came together pretty quickly and uses .020" over CP pistons, Spool rods and quality bearings etc. The block was 3/4 filled with grout and the crank was nitrided and balanced. I also picked up a Plazmaman intake manifold and one of their new throttle bodies. Leigh from Extreme Turbo Manifolds made the new steam pipe exhaust manifold and modified the 1.06 rear housing of the GT35 to take the wastegate. The biggest delay was the cylinder head but the end result looks fantastic. Aaron from APM spent many hours on it to get it to the point where he was happy with it. I used a 1.5mm Cometic head gasket and half inch studs. I then took the motor to Joe at Profab so he could make the mounting bracket for the oil pump and the drive for the front of the crank. Here's the motor with the intake and exhaust sides fitted in place. Fast forward a little bit and the engine went in on new mounts. Joe from Profab also made the four inch dump pipe and plumbed the gate back (for now). He also modified the power steering pump to space it forward to suit the bizarre balancer (it was a prototype). Had the radiator serviced and a new cap fitted. It was more blocked than I thought so it should be all good now. Mounted and wired up the 2 x Maradyne thermo fans using both the factory switch and a manual override so I can have them on even if the engine thinks they're not needed. Also wired up the low-oil pressure switch and light and the Tech Edge Wideband unit and display. The backlight on the display is really good and dead-easy to read. Fitted the Autronic SM4 plugin in a standard ECU case and plugged it in - still have to wire the air temp sensor but that wasn't required to start it - something that happened last night. Engine startup video - click me. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXNUjzZa338) Gave it 5 or 6 minutes to bed cams in and then took it for the first drive in 18 months. Can't wait to get it tuned and get some racing in. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

I spose it's pretty tough... Stoney showed me the video, sounds tough. When's debut? Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

I spoke to Yavuz yesterday about tuning it and he's probably a couple of weeks away from having a full day to get stuck into it. We've taken some fuel out of the base maps on the Autronic so it's not trying to empty the tank at idle (it was less than 10:1 at idle) so I'll throw some kays on it when I can and then put it on the dyno and get stuck into it.

Very, very nice. That balancer certainly is a piece of work! What compression did you end up going with? Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

It's 9:1 or thereabouts.

Seen this thing at WSID before, what a ****ing machine! Is it still manual? How fast do you wanna go?

It had a standard five-speed manual and Jim Berry single plate in it when it ran 11's but I've since sold the box and bought a transbraked C4 and TCE converter from Fred at Protrans. I reckon it'll run pretty solid tens but I'd eventually like a 9.xx pass - (Doesn't everyone?!?) It'll be a bloody stretch to get there on radials but I can dream can't I? Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

i love this car. such a sleeper, great job Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Thanks man. It'll be stickered up like a whore soon enough so the sleeper thing won't apply any more but I hope it's as fast as I want. Some old footage with the stock turbo and gas. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcmNo2Up0Vc) New C4 and stupidly loose converter/low boost. Stock engine, GT35R, no gas. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXVfFwZZzNc)

nice work mate

Ive always wondered about the belt driven oil pumps and how reliable it would be. I can understand that its a lot better flow but it would really worry me on a regular driven car if the belt snapped and lost all oil pressure. Either way that engine looks like a master peice, very very well done.... I admire the effort, looks very professional !!

I went the belt-driven pump route because I've seen far too many OEM replacement style pumps break in RB's when being turned really hard or on a two-step etc. This engine will see both of these at the track and a belt driven pump will always be more reliable than an OEM style one. If the belt breaks the gauge will read zero and the big red idiot-light will shine in my face. (Hope that never happens!) Everything about this build has been professional and I couldn't have a better bunch of guys helping out (Aaron from APM, Stuart at Bezerkly Automotive). Cheers, Adrian Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Sounds sik must be a rocket i want an rb25.... or rb30 Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Thanks champ. I hope it goes fast enough to excite me otherwise I'll drag the gas back out. (I'll probably do that anyway). I should probably post in the GT35 turbo thread when it's tuned hey?

Quote: Originally Posted by 2rismo I went the belt-driven pump route because I've seen far too many OEM replacement style pumps break in RB's when being turned really hard or on a two-step etc. This engine will see both of these at the track and a belt driven pump will always be more reliable than an OEM style one. If the belt breaks the gauge will read zero and the big red idiot-light will shine in my face. (Hope that never happens!) Everything about this build has been professional and I couldn't have a better bunch of guys helping out (Aaron from APM, Stuart at Bezerkly Automotive). Cheers, Adrian Pics of idiot light! Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Quote: Originally Posted by 5spdvl Pics of idiot light! Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Just a quick update - the car made 280kW @ 19psi on pump and pulled hard all the way to 8200rpm without nosing over. We haven't gone chasing the revs with the intake cam at all so it seems like it's breathing pretty well. Will give it a run like it is now and try to run some bottom 11's on radials before throwing some race fuel in it and some serious boost.

Skids. First pass, foot brake not holding, leaving with no boost and a boost leak leaving me with 16.5psi only. Gay but sounds okay. Hopefully more vids to come. Vid 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmhJdp27iW4) Vid 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgTwH3uEB6w) First go with transbrake. It went a little 'sidewaysish' at the start and then hit the limiter which I forgot to adjust. Oops Vid 3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru6g0f0yuXU) Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Good stuff man- Good stuff on the external oil pump- Thanks Nick--

Quote: Originally Posted by cwreck Good stuff man- Good stuff on the external oil pump- Thanks Nick-- Thanks man. A couple of the VL boys off here have been pegging me about it. It's simple but effective. I just couldn't be bothered having oil pump breakage in the back of my mind the whole time.