Jon-Doe Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 this is my first post so hi to all, love the site! i recently rescued an old 1973 620 from a shed on a friends farm. good buy for cheap and i know the last 5 owners, it hadnt been going for 3 years and 70,000 original miles. its re-sprayed flat black, stock chrome rims, rough black flat deck (its definatly a ratsun, ill try find some photos) i drove it home no exhaust, no lights, no key ect ect ..... in other words it wasnt in the best of states but the body was fine, and dashboard/seat are mint. after a good scrub, $200 and a couple weeks later it had a warrent of fitness and a registration but i do have one problem.... there is going to be the day when it wont pass a warrent and some serious work is gonna need to be done to fix some of the rust around the firewall. the car is almost 40 years old so im most probably gonna keep it as my daily i was thinkin if i have to fix the fire wall i may aswell chuck a bigger engine in it, bigger brakeson it and a better diff! i do have a worked RB30 that came out of my old r31 skyline itching to be chucked into this little creaper and the day that happens id say ill give it a present and get it paneled and painted matt black inside and out. everything else will be left as stock as possible with a flash slim flatdeck on the back. 3 big questions 1. brakes disk brakes would be good what are my options? (also if it can be done, powersteering) 2. engine has anyone chucked an RB engine into a 620 befor? i was thinkin i might need to strategically move some of the firewall back 6 inches to help with weight distribution by not having so much of the engine hanging over the front axle and will give me more room for the radiator. 3. keeping it column shift id love to keep it column shift with a bench seat! any ideas on how i can modify an RB gearbox to suit column shift? if anyone can steer me in the right direction to solve these problems the help will be much appreciated Quote Link to comment
Skib Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 welcome to Ratsun :cool: 1. brakes disk brakes would be good what are my options? (also if it can be done, powersteering) Mike Klotz makes disk brake brakets 2. engine has anyone chucked an RB engine into a 620 befor? i was thinkin i might need to strategically move some of the firewall back 6 inches to help with weight distribution by not having so much of the engine hanging over the front axle and will give me more room for the radiator. your going to have to hack the shit out of your firewall. The RB is alot bigger than the L4. also take into consideration your torsion bars, depending on your configuration you make have to do front coilovers and ditch em. 3. keeping it column shift id love to keep it column shift with a bench seat! any ideas on how i can modify an RB gearbox to suit column shift? you already have your work cut out for you, keep it simple. its possible to do the swap... but its not going to be easy or strait forward. its success depends on your ability and resources. #1 rule of Ratsun. Quote Link to comment
Skib Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 on second thought you should just send that RB to me and Ill give it a good home in my Z :D 1 Quote Link to comment
Jon-Doe Posted December 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 on second thought you should just send that RB to me and Ill give it a good home in my Z :D thanx bro im sure the carbed 3l (thats right carbed rb30) would go well in your z :D ... went well in my r31but now its goin into my dedicated burnout chassi next year (untill it finds its calling for the 620) (12lb flywheel, big 290* cam, 40mm down draft webber, headers) iso link to mike klotz! all ready thought about how much i have to hack up, basically the front of the heater box will almost be inline with the bottom of the dash. tortion bars i havnt really thought about but i can modify the headers if i need to .... actually thats a very good point the exhaust i just did was an absolute bastard to get around the tortion bars i know the gear boxs can be done i should have bought one along time ago when i had the chance to but i missed out on that but possibly the rear section of a different gearbox may fit? its success depends on your ability and resources. plenty :cool: ... photos will be taken when the sun comes up Quote Link to comment
Skib Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 heres an L28 in a 620 tight fit. Quote Link to comment
Zfighter76 Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 if you use the stock motor mounts on the l28, you have to recess the firewall 7.5 inches about and you can still run the stock radiator and fan and what not. to the untrained eye it looks stock haha. im assuming rb30's are longer, but nonetheless, it would be bitching if you pulled it off. is it a single cab??? thats how mine is and its going to be a bitch to make my shifter farther forwards, otherwise ill be shifting behind my seat. Quote Link to comment
Zfighter76 Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 being able to remove the valve cover is another hard thing to do, without removing the engine. i personally am making a removable section of the air intake valance beneath the windsheild from which i will be able to pull the valve cover straight up. if the from. if the rb30 is too much longer, you may have to have a removable windsheild or remove the engine every time you want to work on the cam/valve area. Quote Link to comment
]2eDeYe Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 Welcome aboard...and this #1 rule of Ratsun. Quote Link to comment
DRIVEN Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 May I suggest mid-engine? Quote Link to comment
BEEBANI Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 I've made a couple of brackets as well. Got a couple sets in Australia also. I'm all for the RB, just finish it is all I can say. Quote Link to comment
Jon-Doe Posted December 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2011 heres an L28 in a 620 tight fit. god damn thats tight! if you use the stock motor mounts on the l28, you have to recess the firewall 7.5 inches about and you can still run the stock radiator and fan and what not. to the untrained eye it looks stock haha. im assuming rb30's are longer, but nonetheless, it would be bitching if you pulled it off. is it a single cab??? thats how mine is and its going to be a bitch to make my shifter farther forwards, otherwise ill be shifting behind my seat. thats was another reason behind keeping it column shift the shifter would need a wiked dogleg or levers to be functional .... i could get this done locally i know some of the hotrodders do it i dont think an rb30 is longer than a l28 its the same length as a rb25 but maybe 25-50mm taller .... (i will post a measurement shortly) its a single cab and damn 7.5 inches is quite a bit but good enuff to work around. its got hydrolic lifters and i dont think ill ever have to venture under the tappet cover with the engine in the ute as long as i use a good tappet cover gasket and manifold gaskets. the only hard part i can think of is getting at the spark plugs, which is some thing i wont be looking forward to! I've made a couple of brackets as well. Got a couple sets in Australia also. I'm all for the RB, just finish it is all I can say. its going to be work in progress B) .... not sure if it will happen yet but i gotta get it right befor i start butchering good metal Quote Link to comment
kneesamo Posted December 3, 2011 Report Share Posted December 3, 2011 Welcome! Flat beds rule! Quote Link to comment
ggzilla Posted December 3, 2011 Report Share Posted December 3, 2011 has anyone chucked an RB engine into a 620 befor? Nope. Never been done. Quote Link to comment
Zfighter76 Posted December 4, 2011 Report Share Posted December 4, 2011 Nope. Never been done. yet... Quote Link to comment
Zfighter76 Posted December 4, 2011 Report Share Posted December 4, 2011 rb30 is sohc??? looks like a six cylinder naps z Quote Link to comment
Jon-Doe Posted December 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2011 rb30 is sohc??? looks like a six cylinder naps z yep RB30's are 6 cyl sohc Quote Link to comment
Jon-Doe Posted December 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 went for a drive in the rain yesterday ..... all the vents leak, and the main vent in the middle has rust around it so im not too impressed i seemed to have over looked that. and i cant be fukt taking out the dash or heater :( i did how ever take some measurments: rb30 length - 750mm rb30 width - 500mm (intake - headers at rear) J15 length - 500mm gearbox width - the same *i could cut 250mm into the firewall to fit the engine with standard radiator *if i move the radiator forward i gain 50 mm and can probably use the stock radiator, swap the engine mounts around it would almost bolt straight in if i cut into the fire wall 200mm *i could modify and fit a bigger radiator further forward and gain 100mm but it would be a tight fit tryna get the radiator in there with electric fans and a bitch if i went turbo later on but would only need to cut 150mm into the firewall the passenger would loose out 100-250mm foot space when i move the fire wall back to fit the headers (which i dont care about im not the passenger). keeping in mind its Rh drive i may need to install the engine further over on the passengers side (upto 25mm) for more driver foot room and so i dont need to mess about with the pedals or e-brake. this will also allow the headers to run on the outside of the chassi just behind the inner guard like lake pipes because i dont think theres enuff room to fit the headers past the torsion bars. big project this will take some time <_< Quote Link to comment
Zfighter76 Posted December 5, 2011 Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 i say if youre going to cut the firewall at all then just do the whole 250 mm. leave the rad in the stock place and try to make the bay look somewhat stock ish. also the weight balance might be all off if you put the engine forward, its always better to put he weight towards the center of the car. since im doing an l28 swap and the stocker in mine is an l16, with the 2.8 it will actually look fairly stock if someone os just passing by at a show. Quote Link to comment
Jon-Doe Posted December 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2011 i say if youre going to cut the firewall at all then just do the whole 250 mm. leave the rad in the stock place and try to make the bay look somewhat stock ish. also the weight balance might be all off if you put the engine forward, its always better to put he weight towards the center of the car. since im doing an l28 swap and the stocker in mine is an l16, with the 2.8 it will actually look fairly stock if someone os just passing by at a show. yea i was thinkin the same thing, the stability would be alot better with the engine further back into the engine bay. do the stock radiators do a decent job at keeping bigger engines cool? keeping it looking stock is gonna be easy untill you look at the engine and the passengers fire wall, or sit in it :lol: and out of curiosity what carbs are you guys using on your l28's for performance? (except of course sidedrafts, i had a set but thats more fabrication) at the moment ive got a 40mm webber 2 barrel downdraft from an old ford grenada v6, looking to upgrade to a 4 barrel holley. (the one in the picture is from a 4l 6cyl ford falcon but is about the size of a cortina webber downdraft) 1 last thing im tryna figure out is what column shift gear boxs are out there. i know RD gear box's bolt up but not sure if they come column shift (possibly do in homy vans). TD gear box's do come column shift but i dont think they bolt up to RB engines. any other ideas? Quote Link to comment
Zfighter76 Posted December 8, 2011 Report Share Posted December 8, 2011 stick with floor shift. make a shift linkage setup to move the shifter forward with some 1/4 inch i inch wide stock and a heim joint, then shave the original shifter on the sides and sandwitch with steel plate. then attach (solidly) a shifter onto the heim joint, and sandwitch that, and secure heim join to the ground. thatll make for some easier shifting. i am going to opt for a 4 barrel setup on my l28 possibly, or just find another 40 dcoe and a triple manifold. Quote Link to comment
Zfighter76 Posted December 8, 2011 Report Share Posted December 8, 2011 like this but this is a better way, and you will probably need to make this going in the opposite direction to make it so you dont have to shift in the bed of the truck http://www.on-trackperformance.com/DSCN2306.JPG Quote Link to comment
nissan29 Posted July 15, 2013 Report Share Posted July 15, 2013 I have an RB30 / RB25 head project for my Skyline if I run into trouble can you give me a hand? Quote Link to comment
jalen Posted July 15, 2013 Report Share Posted July 15, 2013 I have an RB30 / RB25 head project for my Skyline if I run into trouble can you give me a hand? You should pm him instead of bumping the thread. that way he will get an email. he hasn't logged on since febuary. Quote Link to comment
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