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[draconis]

2004

My car originally:


Original engine:


Some work to try to straighten out the fucked up passenger front guard and door.

Replaced the rear tail light garnish due to rust.



2005

My newly swapped VG30E before going to body shop.  That's the tech I worked with for 3 years before a years break and only now are we pairing up to work yet again on this last bit.

[draconis]

Here's the swapped VG30E



After the engine was swapped, it got sent over to the body shop.  Got a respray and new rims.  Shortly after was the swap to JDM parkers.  As you can tell, the JDM parkers do heaps better than the US stock parkers.


Then swapped in red light bulbs for a more aggressive look.  :p


Along with a new engine I swapped in new struts, new rotors and pads (OE).

Then in July 06 I purchased this clip and started anew after selling my swapped VG30E.

[draconis]

So here is a lil update.  A bit on the actual process and pics to go with.  The first rule was to not in any way alter the engine bay in any way.   No banging the firewall, side walls or front end.  It had to appear to be as if the RB20 could have been a factory option as it was in the Z31.  Unfortunately there was one area that had to be massaged but that was for the gear box tunnel just a bit to make room for the starter.  I accepted this since it wasnt a great change the car and if Nissan had the RB20 in the S12, they would have been forced to do the same.  Before this time I got in touch with a bloke who first did the RB20 swap in a S12 that anyone has had proof or ever knew of.  He was a really cool Aussie chap known on a couple of S12 forums as ib6ub9.  Anyway, everything he told me didnt work out.  Though, there wasnt that much he told me that was in explicit detail.  But I came to realize a couple reasons as to why nothing he said was working for me.  One of the big reasons was due to the RHD/LHD setups.  It may not seem like much, but with all the vacuum lines and piping for the IC and exhaust, things were a little uneven when matching up.  But the biggest reason was due to the fact that I have a Nissan 200sx SE that was available only in the US.  This was equipped with a VG30E.  So seeing that a V6 will be totally different than a CA, it makes sense that the front cross member and motor mount setup would be entirely different.

The next set of pics will be of the process.  Feel free to ask.

USDM driver's side




USDM passenger's side



Front sway bar will not work since it would hit the sump.  One nice thing is that the RBs are front sump just as the S12 is.  The VGs in a Z31 were rear sump but when they decided to put it into a S12, they had to make a new sump and adjust the oil pickup so that it could fit correctly within the S12's parameters.  Thankfully though, with the placement we obtained with the motor, it cleared the rack and such without issue.

USDM driver's side.  Gearbox on the right of the pic.

USDM passenger's side.  Gearbox on the left of the pic.

[draconis]

Gear box mount had to be adjusted obviously since the VG30E gear box differs from the RB20s.


Some random pics of the motor in the car hanging in place.  That way we could have the motor in place suspended while we adjusted the motor/gearbox to the optimal place and then adapt everything else to allow for the motor to be mounted.

[Vladimir]

BOOBS! Put up pics of the 26 and shiz!!

[draconis]

BOOBS! Put up pics of the 26 and shiz!!

LOL Okay okay, I'll post up a couple pictures.  They arent much but I guess enough to show that I'm actually doing this.  Car is in the shop right now and it's a bit of work.

[ovenfood]

wow nice

[draconis]

[draconis]

Ok, technical info will be updated here and later with pics, but for now, the main bit of the swap will be on S12Silvia.com.