I just bought a rolling shell of a VL Calais that used to have a RB20 in it and i have enquired at a local Japanese importer and they said i could get a RB20 Turbo with 5speed, computer and loom with a top-mount cooler for about $1800. One of my mates is a mechanic and is a pro with Vl's but he is in china and i am just wondering how hard it will be for him to put the engine in and if I will need any other parts for the conversion? Oh and i have an RB20 tailshaft will that fit into a normal diff from a vl?
Any help,
thanx Evan
Yep!!! its a pretty straight forward fit!!! does the car still have the RB20 wiring loom in it from the last engine???? that'll only make things even easier!! sounds like u got a good deal with ur engine package!! make sure its the ECCS type RB20 not the NICS!!!
Happy boostin!!
The NICS RB20DET puts put about 140kW stock, compared to 160kW from a stock ECCS RB20DET. The differences between the engine are in the head I believe, the turbo, computers, and manifolds. The NICS engine uses a poor turbocharger while the ECCS was blessed with a ball-bearing turbo.
Overall the ECCS engine has heaps better potential for making power, better power delivery, would probably be heaps less prone to problems and comes with a better gearbox... I'd go for the ECCS RB20DET engine in your VL.
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plz of plz dont put a rb20 into the vl!!!!!!!
noooo -
go to fullboost.com.au and look at the orange vl turbo with the rb 20 - i rang the guy and was thinking about doing the same and he told me it was the biggest load of crap he ever did, - thats just a opinion
spend the lil bit extra and put at least a rb25 in there -
itll make a bigg diff -
thats my 2 cents anyways
Some original photos have not been recovered yet.
Well i went back to the place today and it is an ECCS engine they want to sell me..... I have spoken to a lot of people in the last few days and they all say it is a simple conversion and from the stats i see on the engine I think it has enough power for me and in six months when i get a cooler it will have plenty of power.... did the guy tell you why it was crap? hard to install? bad power?
u dont just put rb20 in car and think its guna pull and 13. likewise with a rb30et ffs. Most important mod is to put cooler on and raise boost!!! then buy a r33 turbo and get urself a zorst. Ull be in the mid 13's with those mods. Another good thing to do is to move the throttle body to fromt of car....that way u have less bends in your cooler piping!!
...yeah, from what I have observed, you seem to hear a lot of clueless young guys thinking they can buy an RB20DET half cut, slap it in their VL and they have cheap easy performance because the figures on paper look good compared to the RB30 engines.
The problem I can see is that once you get to the stage where you want to start modifying an RB20 - you run out of potential pretty quick and wish you had something bigger to play with :x
If you dont plan on going any further than having a cheap, revvy, mild performance stock engine then it may be for you - if you plan on looking for more horses eventually, the larger RB's have more potential for easy power gains.
...then again what do I know?
Some original photos have not been recovered yet.
RB20's are cheap **** engines and have no torque, you will have to thrash the **** out of them to make them move a VL, ie: Driving around the city with no torque is a prick. Remember its torque that moves the car, not horsepower. You could have 1000hp and 10 newton meters of toruqe and you will go no where.
Same princible as a rotary engine, all revs no torque..
gday everyone,
this is my first post on this forum and it will possibly be a stupid question
I just sold my import skyline with the rb20det.
I now miss the power but dont want the hassel of importing every little part from japan if it happens to be damaged.
I also have a Vl in pretty good nic, I am going to put an rb25det into it.
I know how much a half cut will cost me, what I am not sure of is how much its going to cost me in labour to get the thing in and drive off into the sunset! I know its a bit of a 'how long's a piece of string' question but any info on labour cost will be appreciated. I just thought that some of you may already have gone down this path
Thanks!!
Well I am just 18 and the main purpose of this car for me is to have something nice that will get me around but have a bit of power at the same time.... I am not looking to make a race car just something that will get going.... I had a n/a 5 speed vl for a year till it got pinched and ****ed and i thought that was pretty good... so I am not looking for a show car just one that has a bit of get up and go and my budget isnt $******.... A guy around the corner just put an RB20ET in his R31 and it goes pretty quick.... For the ease of the installation and the low price the RB20ET seems good for me
Actually guys there are several RB20ET is japan running 10s.... so they can pull the times, but hey bet that cost a bit. Personally if you like to drive round on redline go the RB20.
..there are probably more SR20DETs (4 cylinder) in Japan running 10's than RB20DET's
An SR20DET in a VL - now that would be something different!
Some original photos have not been recovered yet.
The RB20 is a GREAT engine, people who diss it are obviously oblivious to the fact that its pretty much the same engine as their RB30ET, but with a smaller bore x stroke and twin cams. Better revving etc.
The people who ask about putting RB20DET's into their cars that are N/A RB30E VLs should do so if they want the power of a VL turbo, stock RB20DET in VL vs. stock RB30ET in VL, RB20 should win easy if launched right. I've seen stock R32 GTS-t's with RB20s running constant low 14s. Change the diff ratio to 4.3 or something and you're laughing...
Some original photos have not been recovered yet.
