# 1980 c210 skyline converion rb20det



## savoury (Feb 11, 2004)

Ive just got an rb20det, m/gearbox, wiring loom etc for my 1980 c210 skyline i was wondering if anyone out there would know what needs to be done to install the new motor and box. also my old engine (L20a et) didn't have a speed sensor and the speedo ran on cable while the new one is eletronic for the computer and speedo. is there an adaptor for this anywhere so i can run both or will the engine computer run alright without the speed sensor. the motor is an ECCS computer system.

any help would be great

thanxs


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## rsx84 (Nov 2, 2003)

savoury said:


> Ive just got an rb20det, m/gearbox, wiring loom etc for my 1980 c210 skyline i was wondering if anyone out there would know what needs to be done to install the new motor and box. also my old engine (L20a et) didn't have a speed sensor and the speedo ran on cable while the new one is eletronic for the computer and speedo. is there an adaptor for this anywhere so i can run both or will the engine computer run alright without the speed sensor. the motor is an ECCS computer system.
> 
> any help would be great
> 
> thanxs


Question: is the l20aet?? motor a inline 6 cylinder, i've just put a rb20det in my r30 82' skyline and if your talking about removing the L20et then i can help?


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## WRteam200sx (Mar 15, 2003)

Oh .. i know this one... Stewart warner makes a thing that can change a cable speedo to electronic one... i saw it at a tour of their PA plant... i dont know their web address though


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## savoury (Feb 11, 2004)

rsx84 said:


> Question: is the l20aet?? motor a inline 6 cylinder, i've just put a rb20det in my r30 82' skyline and if your talking about removing the L20et then i can help?



Yes it was an l20et. thanks for getting back to me any help would be good. at the moment I've got the motor sitting in the engine bay and I'm just wondering what to do about the mounts.The gearbox I had no problems with. Which way does the motor lean?


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## savoury (Feb 11, 2004)

WRteam200sx said:


> Oh .. i know this one... Stewart warner makes a thing that can change a cable speedo to electronic one... i saw it at a tour of their PA plant... i dont know their web address though



thanks dude. do u know if he makes a electronic to cable?


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## WRteam200sx (Mar 15, 2003)

im not sure, probably , they do alot of crazy parts like that, where its a lil mechanism that connects onto where the cable one would be and then changes it into an electronic signal... sooo many they might have one that is ass backwards. i dont know , best bet would be to find their website and then get their number and call them. I just remember seeing that part when they were giving us a class on their gauges and other parts they make.


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## scourge (Feb 27, 2003)

As a former owner of an RB20DET (GTS4), I can say that an SR20DET would make a better engine choice. I never wanted to hear it at the time I had my Skyline....but they were right. The SR20DET makes a better engine.


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## rsx84 (Nov 2, 2003)

what i've done is put a 92' r32 rb20det into an 82' skyline, now with the gear box for the rb20 the speedo drive is machanical not electronic, the gearbox from a rb25 has an electronic speedo drive?? if any thing look for a speedo drive from a gtr r32 as they use a machanical drive, the engine learns towards the drivers side.


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## rsx84 (Nov 2, 2003)

scourge said:


> As a former owner of an RB20DET (GTS4), I can say that an SR20DET would make a better engine choice. I never wanted to hear it at the time I had my Skyline....but they were right. The SR20DET makes a better engine.


did you run a sr20det with the gts4 through as you've got to remember the rb20det and the 4wd gts4 may not have been the right use for the rb20det, not to say the gts4 is a slug!! 
Also here in oz you can get a sr20det halfcut for around $3-4000 where as an rb20det halfcut is around $2200!


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## Nizmodore (May 9, 2003)

rsx84 said:


> did you run a sr20det with the gts4 through as you've got to remember the rb20det and the 4wd gts4 may not have been the right use for the rb20det, not to say the gts4 is a slug!!
> Also here in oz you can get a sr20det halfcut for around $3-4000 where as an rb20det halfcut is around $2200!


....and while the sr 20 has the reputation, the rb, in my opinion is a much better motor 

my mate picked up a rb20det for $400 for his VL with loom and ecu etc.......not bad at all......


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## Nizmodore (May 9, 2003)

Nizmodore said:


> ....and while the sr 20 has the reputation, the rb, in my opinion is a much better motor
> 
> my mate picked up a rb20det for $400 for his VL with loom and ecu etc.......not bad at all......


anyway, why don't you use a speedo drive from a aussie made r31? thats electronic.....and you just have to unbolt the mechanic one from the rb20det/fs5 gearbox......

or you could use a VL commodore speedo and sender, thats mechanical, but you may have a problem putting holden/gm parts in your skyline


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## savoury (Feb 11, 2004)

rsx84 said:


> what i've done is put a 92' r32 rb20det into an 82' skyline, now with the gear box for the rb20 the speedo drive is machanical not electronic, the gearbox from a rb25 has an electronic speedo drive?? if any thing look for a speedo drive from a gtr r32 as they use a machanical drive, the engine learns towards the drivers side.



did u have to mod the engine mounts? mine r missing by about 20mm. what did u do. my car is cable the gear box is electronic. is it just a speed cutout for the engine computer as well as speedo. and will it affect the engine if i change over to cable.


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## rsx84 (Nov 2, 2003)

savoury said:


> did u have to mod the engine mounts? mine r missing by about 20mm. what did u do. my car is cable the gear box is electronic. is it just a speed cutout for the engine computer as well as speedo. and will it affect the engine if i change over to cable.


the bloke who put it in, put steel spacers in as well which raised the mounts and made them closer together, also done to balance the tailsharft. with thw speedo cable there will be no effect on the engine as its the rpms and gear box that drive the cable!


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## 87vlt (Oct 24, 2003)

whats a c210 look like? if its simliar to an r30 or an r31 try and get a cross member from one of them, that way theres no need to make engine mounts  ... as for the wiring, there's a heap of wiring diagrams for the rb20 on the net do a search ....

Muzz


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## scourge (Feb 27, 2003)

rsx84 said:


> did you run a sr20det with the gts4 through as you've got to remember the rb20det and the 4wd gts4 may not have been the right use for the rb20det,


Of course not. The AWD SR20DET tranny would not work in my GTS4 because the Pulsar GTi-R's engine was mounted horizontally. What my friends were saying is that I should have gotten a car with an SR20DET in it or a R32 GTS-t and swapped in an SR20DET for a front mid-enigine car. I have seen these Skylines before and they handle like on rails (with the right suspension set up) and they can be FAF! 




> not to say the gts4 is a slug!!


Mine wasn't slow but I could not hang with the GTRs on open road. It was a good hanfling car but not as fast as I wanted but it was as fast as I could go on my island.

I still dream about my car and I wish I had it here with me in the US right now.


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## savoury (Feb 11, 2004)

thanks everyone for your input. got it in at last just have to put the rest of the car back together now after painting. it's been stripped down to just a shell. ill work out the wiring when i put it back together.


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## kasey375 (Mar 21, 2004)

*Wow*

Hey have you got any pic's I qwn a 1978 c210 and love it I want to do mine up.
I only have the motor out of a 280 turbo efi.
I'ts good to see other people are doing up these cars. :cheers:


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