# Finally "drove" the RB



## nx2000 (Jan 24, 2003)

Most of my previous driving after the swap was sub 50MPH due to cooling. I had to ghetto rig my fans (for now) I removed the A/C condensor, but my fans came with some of THE most shitty mounting hardware possible. SO, I cut some wood from the palette the clip came on and stuck it behind the fans (not visible from teh front). Now they fit nice and snug on the radiator. Anyway....I go get some gas and take the baby on the highway. I went on a deserted road and let me tell you....THIS SHIT PULLS HARD!!!!!!! I was suprised that it was pulling. THe turbo is LOUD when it is spooling up. It was hot as hell though and not having A/C sucks ass. Too bad there were no cars to race. I was in a racing mood. BY 2700 rpm I am boosting good and it feels lovely. All that is left to get my car in pre-swa[ shape is cleaning up the engien bay and finish putting the interior together. Minor stuff like dash vents, gauge cluster trim, and glove box. I am still in awe. Boost is GOOD!!!


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## wishihadda TT-Z (Jul 25, 2003)

that sounds awesome.....where are the pictures?


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## drift240sxdragqueen (Oct 23, 2002)

hahaa, nice job man, get some time slips and dynos goin  
maybe even some vids!


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## nx2000 (Jan 24, 2003)

I have a few pics of the the RB20. Nothing great. I can take more in-depth pics later.. I took these because I was going to trade my car for anothrer. That is why there are pics of the oxidation and interior wear. Dont mind those. I can take more pics if anyone wants to see anything in particualr. 


http://www.imagestation.com/album/review.html?id=4289622001


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## Joel (Jun 11, 2003)

you running factory boost control?


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## MoreRyc3 (Jul 10, 2003)

THATS TITE!!!!.. i cant wait for my clip... how much were ur total expenses?.. and also jus liek everyone else... MORE PICS!!...lol


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## nx2000 (Jan 24, 2003)

Joel said:


> *you running factory boost control? *



yeah. I bought a manual boost controller, but the guy who helped with during ym swap said it messed up his engine. I also heard about boost spikes and I got an ebay special, so I chose not to install it. So I am waiting to get a eletric boost controller.


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## Converted (May 28, 2003)

Very nice. I just watched some videos of an RB swap (cant remember the guys SN). Looks pretty awesome, my clip should be here by the end of the month. It seems that the most difficult thing is the wiring. Did yours go pretty smoothly?

-Jake


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## nx2000 (Jan 24, 2003)

Yes and NO. My friend did alot of the wiring and sometimes people know TOO much. He is very mechanically inclines and he questioned everythign on thesi wiring write up. S o instead odf using the RB lower harness for everything, we used the KA and RB harness. My car still runs, but I have a wire connected directly to the starter spliced to my ignition plug on my KA interior cluster harness plug. It still runs. No boo boo's. It is pretty straightforward. You probably read Nismo241's write up. I dont know if he post on this forum (highly unlikely). He is a REAL great guy. I talk to him everyday on AIM. I even called him during our wiring quest. I have his write up if anyone needs it


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## Drft1580 (Jun 20, 2003)

Congratulations man, so how much total?


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## nx2000 (Jan 24, 2003)

Just under 2800 turn key and drive


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## Drft1580 (Jun 20, 2003)

Who installed?


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## Drft1580 (Jun 20, 2003)

Did you pay for installation? how much was shipping and handling, what if the engine doesn't start up when you turn the key, what if it gets damaged while getting shipped, what if your engine requires a rebuild?, what if.........too many what if's , what made you so secure?


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## MoreRyc3 (Jul 10, 2003)

What if..... lol... i think he did the instal himself... doesnt seem that hard with the right tools... i wanna know about warrenty too... also if it gets damaged and it doesnt require a rebuild unless u want more than 300hp... lol


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## nx2000 (Jan 24, 2003)

Good questions. 

Why am I so secure--because the good outweighs the bad. The clip usually comes with a start up warranty. If something is damaged in shipping, you call em up. Venus is good about helping

Tools needed--basic tools. Socket wrenches and what not. Jack, jack stands, screwdrivers. I think the biggest socket we used was 24mm. voltage testers would be nice. Wire cutters would be good. 

If your engine needs a rebuild you are SOL. I dont expect an engine to have off the assembly line quality. Why. The last R32 was made in 1992 I believe. So at best I have an 11 year old engine. Again the good outweighs the bad. Lets say this I paid 1200 plus 636 shipping. 1836. NOW, say I need a rebuild....that is at most 2500 in my area. So I can, if I WANT, PAY 3336 FOR A ALMOST BRAND NEW TURBOCHARGED ENGINE. Take a KA...2500 for rebuild...THEN 3500 up for a turbo kit. DO the math. MY engine is going to get rebuilt maybe at the end of next year. If you think there are too many if's, then this isnt for you. Get a KA-T. Why do people strap turbo kits on 14 yeare old KA's?? without rebuilds on some of them. The risk is the same. If your engine wont start, do some searching on the forums and in your engine. Double, triple anbd quadruple check all your connections. If you find a problem, call up the importer. I did the swap myself with a friend. Not too bad. took us from a Monday late afternoon to Thirsday afternoon. Long hours, but worth it.


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## 93blackSER (Feb 1, 2003)

speaking of your swap and clip and all, i was wondering if you got body panels and such on your front clip? PM me.


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## kevy8up (Apr 18, 2003)

Nx....i know this is alot to ask but if you really did the rb20...can u send me list on shizno to do in a certain order.....cause im curious. I am definitely wanting to do this prolly in November and i kinda want an idea of how to do this or what order to work. i have never done a swap but i have put parts on cars so im halfway there. I hope i can get something to go on. im prolly gonna put a big list together and work with that...also..if there are any sites to go to ....let me know. Later thanks


Kev


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## nx2000 (Jan 24, 2003)

BEFORE SWAP---
*Acquired parts-
walbro fuel pump
NGK spark plugs
3 ton jack
3 ton jack stands
boost gauge 
manual boost controller (anyone want it for cheap )
*prep work
removed KA harness (upper). Took off obvious stuff like intake, etc. HOWEVER, all this CAN be left on at your discretion
Removed dash board. You HAVE to remove the dash for some wires to get a tach singal. I tried to wire my aftermarket tach directly to the ECY tach wire. No go. There is a plug on the interior harness that goes to the gauge cluster. DOnt know the color. I spliced that wire, to the ECU and SCORE. HOWEVER you must weither go aftermarket or use the RB tach. Pretty easy. Just swap the tach into your KA cluster. The DOHC cluster (I didnt try SOHC) reads twice as high. So when my idle on the aftermarket tach reads 1, the other reads 2...etc There is more wiring involved to use the whole RB cluster. Mckinney motorsports is supposdly working on some kind of prodcut to let you use your stock tach. NOT worht the 100 plus bucks they will ask when you can get an afterm,arket tach for 50 on ebay. I didnt get a huhe 80" tach. It is 3 5/8". I mounted it on the steering column in the line of the tach on the cluster. So when I look at the tach, Isee the aftermarket. 


DURING SWAP---
*First we removed the KA. 
Remove ECU from passenger side kick panel. Unscrew it from the hanress. Pull harness out. 
Unbolt the lower harness (ie starter/battery)
Remove radiator
UNbolt the driveshaft (have a pan ready....you WILL get leakage once you take it off the tranny)
Unbolt the transmission crossmember (I think its called)
Basically you want the tranny unbolted. 
UNbolt KA from mounts
unbolt exhaust
Unbolt A/C compressor and leave it in the engine bay for now
Remove heater hoses from firewall. 
Pull that sumbitch out. It is quite easy. Not too much to unbolt. I may have missed something, but you will know if your engine wont come out. We pulled the engine and tranny straight out

*Remove RB-
Same as above pretty much.
It was a little harder because the clip is on a palette. SO, we had to jack the clip up and do all sorts of weird shit to get the tranny unbolted. Luckily we had two jacks and 4 jack stands. My friend brought his wont just in case and I bought some just in case he didnt bring his. 
Swap crossmembers. I misse dthis part, but my friend said it is EXTREMELY easy. It's like 3 bolts. 
put engine in. Align mounts and mount that bitch. And pretty much put everything back together
Cut holes for SMIC. Besides wiring, I found this to be the most difficult part. It is a pain in the ass. It took a few hours and right now it is held by wire that held the front clip on the palette. The bumper suppot is in the way AND the tires rubs. So we got it in there real good and put that wire on it. We have just enough clearance. FMIC is first on the upgrade list. After that comes wiring. There is a write up. I can post it...actually...Ill throw it on this post. This is for RB20 into SOHC (89-90) 240's. I dont know how much of it equates to DOHC and s14's. 



WIRING UP YOUR RB20 IN A 89-90 240SX - 
BY BRANDEN ROSA
This how-to is for 89-90 240SXs that came equipped with SOHC engines. Wiring up a 91-94 DOHC engine should be very similar, but not quite the same. This how-to also assumes that you already have the engine and tranny installed. If you are performing this swap, make sure you have the engine and tranny installed properly. If you have any questions, feel free to contact 

Branden (Nismo241) at [email protected] 

1) Run the ECU harness into the passenger side of the car, extending the mass air flow sensor, and O2 sensor wires.

2) Locate 2 plugs on the RB20 motor harness. Both being rectangle and one having 6 wires, and the other having 8 wires.

3) After locating these, find the female end of each of these plugs and cut them back about 6-8 inches.

4) Locate 2 oval plugs on the KA chassis harness, one being grey, and the other being brown.

5) After finding these, cut the Black/red wire, and connect it to the Black/red wire on the RB plug that was just cut.

6) On that same plug, cut the Red wire and splice it to the white/black wire on the same RB plug.

7) Going towards the fuse box, there will be a white wire that goes into the box. Cut and strip both ends of it.

8) Splice the white/purple wire from the RB plug into the white wire.

9) Off of the ECU there is a Black/pink wire for the fuel pump, run a wire from the ECU into the engine bay to the black/pink wire from the fuse box.

10) Now there will be a plug with 2 wires in it on the KA chassis harness, one being white and the other being black/yellow. Find the black/white wire on the other RB plug and connect the two.

11) Coming out of the fuse box there will be a plug that contains a small white/red wire. Take that and connect it to the white red wire coming from the RB motor harness by the alternator.

12) Take the thick white/blue wire and run a wire from there to the positive battery terminal; that will charge the battery from the alternator. The way I did mine was I took the RB battery harness and connected it to the battery as well as the KA battery harness, that way it powers the KA harness and the RB harness, same goes for the negative battery cable.

Unfortunately we didnt follow this to a tee. My friend didnt see a reason why. My car runs good, but I will probably end up re-wiring. You will use both upper (main) and lower RB harnesses on this write up. 

Hood cutting.

Your intake piping is the highest point on the RB20. I cut most of my skeleton out. You dont have to, but I misjudged my cutting point. Or you can get a CF without a skeleton. This is simple with right tools. Just cut. 

If I missed anything, or if there are anymore questions, hit me up

That about covers it

SIDE NOTE***

There is no need to go buy wire for the extensions of the O2, MAF, or tach. We used wires from teh RB clip. You will probalby get teh wiring in tact. I have so much wiring between the outer harness (ie for the lights etc) and interior hanress. I plan on removing it all before i junk my clip, just to have some pasre wires


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## kevy8up (Apr 18, 2003)

OMFG YOU R AWESOME!!!!!!


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## nx2000 (Jan 24, 2003)

Thanks!! I have to pay it forward. I got great help and I in turn will help someoen else. More Side notes

The A/C lines on the SOHC are too short. Not sure about DOHC. They were short by a few inches. So A/C IS keepable. PS too. My PS workes great. I had to plug the other wole fo rthe HICAS. It is leaking now, so now PS. It isnt too bad though. Oh yah, dont forget to refill everything. The tranny took like 3 bottles of fluid. I didnt drain the oil, but I think you need at least 4 quarts. You will probably have a little left on teh 4th bottle. Coolant...I bought a big 50/50 mix. Power steering fluid will take a few bottles since you have to drain the system...new pump. Also, I let my freon vent into the atmosphere...most likely killing a tree or two. Seriously AIM me on anything EXCEPT the wiring. I'll patch you through to the person who did the write up. The wirng is straightforward though. Not too hard. Just tedious.


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## kevy8up (Apr 18, 2003)

oh yea...if i wanted some aftermarket like ebc and so on...what should i look for....maybe tach also....i just wasnt sure what i should be veiwing. It looks like u went tach at least.


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## nasr20de (Apr 25, 2003)

nx 636 for shipping where do you live b/c im looking at getting a ca or maybe a rb at that price and was wondering what the shiping runs about


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## nx2000 (Jan 24, 2003)

I live in North Dakota.


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## jt1583 (Apr 29, 2004)

what is your aim nx2000?


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## OPIUM (Aug 18, 2002)

Welcome to the RB squad :thumbup:

edit: BTW, what radiator and other various mods are you running. I saw a fuel pump on there... anything else?


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## drift240sxdragqueen (Oct 23, 2002)

nx2000 has been gone for awhile now. he's had an RB before you opium


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## SnowMongoose (Apr 28, 2004)

woohoo for RB swaps...

Im just curious where nx2000 got his Rb...
I still havent decided between an sr and an rb, so Im trying to keep my eyes peeled...

Thanks in advance, when I do my sap Im planning on taking pictures and posting em
(mainly so I can get y'all to help me not break it  )

Snow


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## drift240sxdragqueen (Oct 23, 2002)

nx2000 got his Rb from venus auto. when they had a "special" for like half a year. =P

he sold it and i believe is working on a civic project.


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## OPIUM (Aug 18, 2002)

drift240sxdrag said:


> nx2000 has been gone for awhile now. he's had an RB before you opium



haha well excuse my drunk hungover non observant self for not checking the dates! ahhahahah


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## Enthalpy (Mar 17, 2004)

Way to revive an old thread JT1583. Next time send the user a Private message instaed of pullling up a 6 month old thread!


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