ARC240's RB20DET 240SX Build

[Fairladyz]

Cant wait for numbers....By the way, you can run a 400hp setup with stock block and tranny. My GT32 setup is running for like almost a year and a half. 340whp, stock headgasket,tranny anything. Its tuned fine and i push it everyday. I guess it depends on the tuning and how the stock motor is... Anyway, cant wait to see everything bolt up.

[ARC240]

Cant wait for numbers....By the way, you can run a 400hp setup with stock block and tranny. My GT32 setup is running for like almost a year and a half. 340whp, stock headgasket,tranny anything. Its tuned fine and i push it everyday. I guess it depends on the tuning and how the stock motor is... Anyway, cant wait to see everything bolt up.

Awesome! Good to know. You're right though, it does depend on the overall condition of the engine. I'm just going to be running stock turbo, stock boost, stock injectors for now.

Bought an EXEDY Lightweight Flywheel (13lbs I believe) and an ACT 6-puck single disk clutch which is supposed to hold down 512ft.lbs, tons more that I'm going to be making, so it'll hold up nicely. They should both arrive tomorrow! Cant wait to pick them up, lets hope I don't get owned with duty fees on the flywheel from UPS lol.

More updates coming right up, planning to have the engine in the car by next week.

[sexonwheels]

Good stuff so far! With a build as big as this I would go big or go home! Such a nice FORGED RB20!

What kind of stuff are you changing on the drivetrain? Are you going with a 2-way LSD?

[Skym]

Depends on how you drive the car. Most RB20DET racecars have upgraded gearbox internals, stronger halfshaft's, etc, due to running on slicks. On road tyres there's a bit of give (wheelspin), so shouldn't be a problem with 400hp.

[FITZY_07]

um.... Mark... you still alive?
GET THAT DAMN THING IN AND POST SOME PICS YOU STALLION!

yeeeeeeeehawwwwwwwww man Im excited.

[ARC240]

Good stuff so far! With a build as big as this I would go big or go home! Such a nice FORGED RB20!

What kind of stuff are you changing on the drivetrain? Are you going with a 2-way LSD?

Thanks for the comments man, much appreciated! Well, again, since I'm not going to be making high horsepower right off the bat, I have time to decide. Most likely, the diff will be swapped for a 2-way Tomei or OS Giken differential (might even consider a KAAZ depending on availability). When I upgrade the driveline, I'll probably be converting to the NEO RB25 transmission and use a lightened driveshaft (aluminum). That wont be for a while yet though, I plan to take my time with my build because I feel that I'll enjoy it more and things that aren't rushed come out better in the end. Presently, the original VLSD that came with the car is still holding up quite nicely, I should probably give it a good oil change though. Right now, I really just want to finish it, drive it and start enjoying it again, it's been WAY too long lol.

Well, the ACT 6-puck single disk clutch came in, picked it up on Saturday, the Exedy flywheel came in Friday of last week, I'll post pics today while I'm out in the garage. I was lucky enough to get a new clutch slave from Mike, belontay_type-m (sorry if I spelled that wrong buddy), which I'll most likely end up upgrading to a Nismo when I get more monies. Mike also gave me an ignitor connector (one that comes from the ECU harness and sits on the right side of the ignitor), mine finally cracked completely right at the connector from heating/cooling + moisture etc over time, and kept causing my car to run on 5 cylinders every now and then, just realized that a few weeks back, now I can repair it. Thanks again to Mike!!!

Looking around for a good Snap-On or MAC torque wrench to torque down all the studs & bolts. Might be picking one up brand new today. I'll let you guys know what happens. Build is at a little bit of a stand-still until I get a few little piece that are missing here and there. I will post pics today guys!

[sexonwheels]

That wont be for a while yet though, I plan to take my time with my build because I feel that I'll enjoy it more and things that aren't rushed come out better in the end. Presently, the original VLSD that came with the car is still holding up quite nicely, I should probably give it a good oil change though. Right now, I really just want to finish it, drive it and start enjoying it again, it's been WAY too long lol.

.....thats probably the way I'd end up doing it too. It might be better to really break in your engine for a bit and then dump the power on along with upgraded drivetrain. Plus majority of us on this forum don't have $10,000 sitting in a valt at home that we can just throw at our cars.

Keep up the good work! NEED PICUTRES!!!!

[ARC240]

Alright guys, here's the big update, finally, yes, I know, took me long enough. I've been running around alot and what have you so it's taken me some time.

Lots of new stuff purchased, picked up an AEM Wideband, EXEDY 13lb. Lightweight Flywheel, ACT 6-puck unsprung clutch with Heavy Duty pressure plate, just got the new genuine OEM Nissan clutch bearing pressed on, rewired a couple of connections (thanks to Belontay_type-M, sorry if I spelled it wrong Mike, who fortunately had everything I needed to rewire my broken connections), bought a secondary engine fan (since there is no clutch fan, things get pretty hot under there), used clutch slave (good condition), new genuine OEM Nissan clutch pivot ball, bought a good torque wrench to torque all of my studs, sent the manifold out for resurfacing, brought it back home, painted it and installed new Nissan gaskets, IACV is on, whole bunch of stuff. Oil pan is now on the engine, new Nissan rear main seal is on the engine, check out the pics.


OOOOO....what's this we have here? MAC Tools?

Indeed, MAC Torque wrench, thanks to Nathan for picking this beauty up for me.

Secondary 9" 1200CFM rad fan installed alongside the Flex-A-Lite that I was running from last year, took me about an hour to wire it up and test it, but the results were worth the time I think.

Studs torqued with new torque wrench and ARP moly.



New rear main seal, some good old liquid gasket is what Nissan calls for on these things.


Exedy Lightweight Flywheel

Driftacular (right) and 5cott (left) decided to come over and reek havoc on the garage, 5cott ended up ziptieing my car to a garage rafter...wtf?

Product of his efforts, *I swear if he scratched that wheel.... LOL.




Got the manifold back from the machine shop, mating surfaces were refaced and the unit was hot tanked...put some finishing touch-ups on it with some professional engine paint that I bought, looks pretty good, happy with the results! Installed new Nissan gaskets and IACV, ready for TB and fuel rail, getting excited !

There she waits until the time to get bolted up comes around.

More updates soon guys, feel free to comment! Thanks for looking .

[Driftacular]

wow that manifold looks sick.

AHAHA bet u scott will comment on this first chance he gets..(tmrw morning)

picture of what is watching over the car?

[RyanGTS-T]

Got the manifold back from the machine shop, mating surfaces were refaced and the unit was hot tanked...put some finishing touch-ups on it with some professional engine paint that I bought, looks pretty good, happy with the results! Installed new Nissan gaskets and IACV, ready for TB and fuel rail, getting excited !

There she waits until the time to get bolted up comes around.

More updates soon guys, feel free to comment! Thanks for looking .

ROFL, so that's why there is paint on half of the throttle body I bought off you!!

What paint is it, and is it grey or silver? I actually like the finish on it, I just want to paint the other side to match it.

Edit: LoL just read the part of it being Professional engine paint. I'll match it up tomorrow

[GTRs13]

Looking real good!

I also am the RB20 user.

[ARC240]

LOL, Shawn, alright, I'll post the picture of the figure that presides over the car in my next update, completely forgot.

ROFL, so that's why there is paint on half of the throttle body I bought off you!!

What paint is it, and is it grey or silver? I actually like the finish on it, I just want to paint the other side to match it.

Edit: LoL just read the part of it being Professional engine paint. I'll match it up tomorrow

Haha, that would be exactly why...I HAD to paint my manifold or because it looked absolutely gross, old, dirty and decrepit (not to mention the importer had written all over it lol). There's probably only paint on half of it because I wasn't able to take top half of the manifold off of my last intake mani (bolts SUCK to get to). I don't even remember what I painted it with to be honest. The guys at the machine shop suggested this new paint to me and it looks pretty good too, finish is nice, if you like I can give you the name of this one. Either that or try some of the Dupli-color stuff (silver or aluminum), it's usually stand-up paint if you prep the piece right, lots of engine builders use it too and it came recommended by the shop that sold me this other paint as well.

Looking real good!

I also am the RB20 user.

Thanks for the comments! Glad to see another RB-powered 240SX !

[RyanGTS-T]

Yeah it's only the one side. No biggie. Looks and feels really durable.

[RWD_GTR]

do u have any pictures of just the car? this looks like a cool build

[ARC240]

Hey man, yeah, I have a few. It's a uncommon kit on an S13, wanted to try something a little bit different, looks alright, pretty happy with it so far, only thing is that I'm trying to find a different front bumper for it right now, this one makes the front look too high . Side skirts, rear valances and rear wing are actual VeilSide CIII pieces, front bumper is a VIS and hood is a carbon VIS. Front is 20mm Signal Auto fender + 50mm blister fender at the rear. I like the way it turned out, the black really softens the lines and makes everything flow better I think. To each their own though .

Here's some pics at a show last September (still had 4-lugs and bad offsets on these wheels, front was still riding on spring/strut, wasn't able to use my coilovers at that time, wheel would hit the coilover):



Some pictures as of a few weeks ago, car on the ground with new Volk GT-C's (sorry guys, she's REALLY dusty, haven't washed it in who knows how long), coilovers installed, front still sitting high (still no engine ):