I'm joining the Air Force and I will be leaving pretty soon. I will be getting a $12000 signing bonus as well as making decent money to start.

I have been looking into a company called unstable Hybrids that does alot of cool work. On the website it says they can put in a RB26DETT complete with AWD conversion and everything for ~$16k into an S14. Now whether this is actually a good deal or not, doesn't really matter to me, I would pay it for sure. So I've been thinking about finding a S14 240sx and giving them the car for a few months to do the work. Besides sourcing parts for replacement can anyone see anything wrong with doing this? Some may say it's a huge waste of money, but if I can find a 240sx for cheap that woud be AWD Twin Turbo 240sx for just over $20k, so I don't see that as bad at all. I'd be looking to get about 450hp out of it eventually (I don't have 1000hp dreams yet). I think this would make for one of the ultimate street cars out there. Anyone have any input on this? Anyone done business with unstable hybrids before?

Thanks,
Jason Garrett
A1C USAF

you're prolly better off with an rb25det. the twin turbos won't fit, they'll have to cut off one of the turbos. if the do manage to make it fit, they are the only people that i've ever heard that are able to do so, and in that case, it's worth all the money you're willing to spend.

Hummm, yeah, maybe they can do RB25DET with AWD and just forget the 6 speed and twin turbos, not sure. I've got a little while to think about and do research, so thanks for the info.

Or maybe I could just have them convert to a single larger turbo when I have the work done. I'm sure I could sell the twins to offset some of the extra cost.

I can get you the hook up on a rb26dett installed with the twin turbo setup and rwd for only 3k

Originally posted by S13GTR
I can get you the hook up on a rb26dett installed with the twin turbo setup and rwd for only 3k

:eek:

spill!

:bigthumb:

i hope you dont say Nightxc777 name or Cameron, which I assume you got it from him since you posted his name up before. It cost ~16 K cuz its awd. If its rwd, it costs WAY less.

Night was a great source of information and engine, until he screwed alot of his customers totaling over 50,000 dollars. Check out ANY 240sx forums, you ll see what im talking about.

also 3K is a bit cheap, considerin the fact that ti would cost you over 5 K to just pick up the engine WITHOUT the custom driveshaft and installation.

formen.ign.com is in week 8 of doing this mod..
go look on the sites for project silvia gtr i think

Im not sure what SPILL means but thats cool I guess. When I say 3k I mean the labor plus all the steering rack modifying to make the stock tt's clear. I would never pay an extra 10k plus to have an awd.

Originally posted by S13GTR
Im not sure what SPILL means but thats cool I guess. When I say 3k I mean the labor plus all the steering rack modifying to make the stock tt's clear. I would never pay an extra 10k plus to have an awd.

"spill" as in "spill the beans" as in "GIVE US INFO!" :bigthumb:

I would never pay an extra 10k plus to have an awd.

Well, like I said, I don't really care if it's a good deal or not, if it's something I really wanna do then it's worth it to me. I have been hearing on other forums that Unstable Hybrids seems to be a little slow with their major projects sometimes, so I will search around for other companies as well. Thanks for all the info guys. If anyone else has any input related to my question please feel free to post up, good opinions and bad ones needed! :bigthumb:

Thanks!
Jason

screw awd..i'd take rwd over awd anyday...hince why I like GTs-t skylines..mmmmm

Usually my philosophy is "its your money, spend it on what YOU want no matter how ridiculous it is or how much ppl on internet forums will hate you for it", but right now I must make an exception.

Paying the extra $10,000 for an AWD conversion is NOT a good idea. Obvioulsy its a waste of money, but more importantly the silvia was never meant to have all wheel drive. With all the chassis modifications they're going to have to do, you might end up losing a significant amount of rigidity and safety, not to mention adding weight. Also your car will be pretty much UNSERVICEABLE. Outside of small things like wheel rotation and oil change, you will probably end up having to go to unstable for any sort of service you might need, and drivetrain parts are going to be VERY expensive.

This sort of extreme modification is only for rich people who want a reputation or something VERY, VERY unique. I would SUGGEST you have them put a RB25 in. If you absolutely must have a RB26, then go ahead but PLEASE do not get AWD.

Ok, you made some valid points there. But a couple things, the car will NOT be a daily driver, it will be mainly for show/go, I will probably take it to the track once to see what it can do.

RWD is cool and all. But with even stock power, I would be breaking traction everytime I even went half throttle. I know what it's like to break traction at 80mph (try it on a bike, lol).

I know parts would be expensive and so would repairs, hence, non daily driver status. I'd hit a few local car shows from wherever I am at and drive it maybe once or twice a week. Also, I'm not gonna be doing any 6000rpm launches or anything, so I think all the major parts will hold up just fine. Also I don't think it's gonna be an extra $10k, I'm thinking more along the lines of $5k. Because I don't know how the company could do an RB26 for me installed for $6k.

Originally posted by firefighter81
Ok, you made some valid points there. But a couple things, the car will NOT be a daily driver, it will be mainly for show/go, I will probably take it to the track once to see what it can do.


once? with an RB u damn well better go to every friggen event u can.

werent you planning to import a supra but since they require crash test papers (DOT standards), you settled on the 3rd gen rx7, firefighter? if you re only going to have the car for race purpose only, you could register the car as a racecar/showcar title, which DOES NOT need crash test papers. Im not sure about EPA, but I dont think you have to meet their standards either. But if you have to meet EPA, its just throwing on another cat. Downfall of racecar title is you can not drive the car to the track, but instead have to trailer it.

basically im sayin, if you want a car just for race track purpose, import your supra for cheap and register it as a racecar without having to deal with the cost to modify it to meet DOT standards.

You plan on taking it to the track? Thats even worse. Unless you get some MAJOR custom chassis reinforcement, you'll be tearing the body apart every time you launch.

I know its hard to see it from an engineering point of view, but trust me -you cannot simply take a chassis DESIGNED for rwd and put an awd drivetrain on it and expect it to work well. A 240sx body was not built to support powered front wheels. There is no forward-backward strength in the front suspension components and Macpherson struts (the front struts of a 240sx) are NOT suited for awd applications. Im not pulling this stuff out of my ass, Im one semester away from a bachelors in mechanical engineering.

Im done talking now. If after reading this you still want to go through with it then I wont dog you for it.

Pfft Engineering... who needs that when you have a 12 grand bonus and an issue of SSC

Originally posted by Fliquer
You plan on taking it to the track? Thats even worse. Unless you get some MAJOR custom chassis reinforcement, you'll be tearing the body apart every time you launch.

I know its hard to see it from an engineering point of view, but trust me -you cannot simply take a chassis DESIGNED for rwd and put an awd drivetrain on it and expect it to work well. A 240sx body was not built to support powered front wheels. There is no forward-backward strength in the front suspension components and Macpherson struts (the front struts of a 240sx) are NOT suited for awd applications. Im not pulling this stuff out of my ass, Im one semester away from a bachelors in mechanical engineering.

Im done talking now. If after reading this you still want to go through with it then I wont dog you for it.


he makes a good point, but if your only gonna run 450hp, I can't see it affecting the chassis that much (taking into account the tendancy of the ATTESA-ETS system to retain the rwd charicteristics in most situations)

Pfft Engineering... who needs that when you have a 12 grand bonus and an issue of SSC

Now that was uncalled for. I don't see how flaming me for wanting to do something a little different helps at all. I could have just went ahead and had it all done without talking to people and doing research, but I decided to see what other people though. Intelligent people do the same thing, they find things out before hand, like I'm quickly finding out that the RB25DET and sticking to RWD might be a much better/cheaper route. I don't just sit back and flame people for asking questions. Thanks for your useless input.

Jason

well, if you want to just go RWD and a RB26, you can just convert it to a single turbo (one that sits on the top of the manfold to clear the steering column) use an RB25 transmission (suprisingly it just bolts up) and there you go.

of course an rb25 is easier, but everyone who does an RB swap goes for either the half-useless RB25, or the completely useless RB20. so if you do keep it RWD, use the 26.

oh, and one more thing, if you do go to AWD, keep in mind that you're going to have to do some steering modification (the output on the front suspension of the RHD japaneese skyline for the steering column will not work with a LHD vehicle, so you're going to have to find some way to get a LHD steering rack onto the skyline suspension because you wont be using the stock front suspension due to the axles, diff, etc.)

Well, to be honest with you I wouldn't be doing any of the work. I consider myself a pretty decent weekend mechanic, but that job would be WAY over my head. Unstable-Hybrids obviously knows something about what they have to do, and I'd leave it all up to them. But hummm, RB26 RWD sounds nice, maybe not too bad of an idea. I could probably get that all done for under $10,000 with the larger single turbo, then spend the leftover cash on upgrades (fuel, engine management, bolt-ons, etc)

Originally posted by firefighter81
Well, to be honest with you I wouldn't be doing any of the work. I consider myself a pretty decent weekend mechanic, but that job would be WAY over my head. Unstable-Hybrids obviously knows something about what they have to do, and I'd leave it all up to them. But hummm, RB26 RWD sounds nice, maybe not too bad of an idea. I could probably get that all done for under $10,000 with the larger single turbo, then spend the leftover cash on upgrades (fuel, engine management, bolt-ons, etc)

now you're seeing the light. :smile:

plus that set up is stronger and will probably hold up longer, and is ultimatley easier to maintain.

by the way, just so that i can hopefully avoid all the flamers with RB25s and RB20's...

the RB25 is half useless because the most powerful RB25 that i've ever seen was only 800hp, and while that might seem like a lot, when you take into account that RB26's are quite frequently taken to 1000hp, you start to get the picture.

as for the RB20, i cant see any reason at all for ever swapping in a 20. not only do you give up .4 liters, but the absolute most that an RB20 has been taken to is about 500hp simply becasue no one wastes their time on an engine with so little displacement. I simply cant see giving up that much weight, for the gain of some more main bearings, and smaller pistons. if you swap in an RB20, you might as well just swap in an SR20 because they have so much more aftermarket support, and they also weigh a lot less.



back to the topic, you can actually buy a hybrid RB26/RB25 tranny for $4900 from

http://www.tpautomotive.com/vShopping/nissan.htm

they have RB, SR, and VG engines.

hope this info is helpful.

too cool, I do not understand your sig picture. I take my s13 to the race track all the time and it handles the corners very well. I can keep up with most non M bimmers.

s14 in decent conditon: 5-9k
rb26dett swap: 16k
---------------------------------
total: 21-25k

For that much you could almost afford an r32 gt-r which has awd and a great engine already. Let alone it's designed for the awd drivetrain and larger engine. The car will also be very unique in the states. If you spend a bit more (probly 50-60k total) you can get an R33 which looks a lot like a 95/96 s14 only more sculpted and muscular.

Check out www.motorex.net for more info and a list of imported cars they have for sale.

Originally posted by Fliquer
too cool, I do not understand your sig picture. I take my s13 to the race track all the time and it handles the corners very well. I can keep up with most non M bimmers.

he means racing AGAINST this car will damage your self esteem.

too-cool, maybe you should change it and add "against" in there, because i took it the same way that Fliquer did when i first saw it...

better?

Originally posted by klohiq
s14 in decent conditon: 5-9k
rb26dett swap: 16k
---------------------------------
total: 21-25k

For that much you could almost afford an r32 gt-r which has awd and a great engine already. Let alone it's designed for the awd drivetrain and larger engine. The car will also be very unique in the states. If you spend a bit more (probly 50-60k total) you can get an R33 which looks a lot like a 95/96 s14 only more sculpted and muscular.

Check out www.motorex.net for more info and a list of imported cars they have for sale.

rb26dett swap does not cost that much UNLESS you want the twin turbo AND all wheel drive. From the people that have done the swap, it costs bout 6000-7000 if you do the swap yourself. Get some friends to come over and help you out. From the same people, they said it isnt a difficult swap as long as you got the right tools. And if your a car enthusiast who WORKS on his car daily, you should have the right tools minus the engine hoist, stand. So cost would be 11-16K, considerably less. Another plus of doing your own swap is, you get to see the condition of the car and approve it yourself PERSONALLY. MOre people i dissuade people from purchasing a GTR, the less GTR in the states, which means when i get my GTR it ll be more unique. :biggrin:

If you read what he said earlier he wants the AWD setup and that's a mod you most likely couldn't do alone or with friends because of how much custom work would need to be done. 16k might even be an underestimate.

There are so few GTRs in the states that you will still have a unique one and all three of the commonly imported Skylines look quite a bit different. I know I'll have a GTR someday even if it means getting the R32 rather than the R33. Not sure if the R32 has the open diff problems that the R33 has. I'm sure with a little work you could probly use an aftermarket, r34 or just get it worked out with a mechanic that knows about Skylines.

Bottom line: If you want AWD then get a GTR or don't buy a Nissan.

good call on that one!!

Originally posted by klohiq
If you read what he said earlier he wants the AWD setup and that's a mod you most likely couldn't do alone or with friends because of how much custom work would need to be done. 16k might even be an underestimate.

There are so few GTRs in the states that you will still have a unique one and all three of the commonly imported Skylines look quite a bit different. I know I'll have a GTR someday even if it means getting the R32 rather than the R33. Not sure if the R32 has the open diff problems that the R33 has. I'm sure with a little work you could probly use an aftermarket, r34 or just get it worked out with a mechanic that knows about Skylines.

Bottom line: If you want AWD then get a GTR or don't buy a Nissan.

:werd:

firefight i wsnt trying to flame you its your money do whatever you want with it but for the 45 grand your gonna have you could have a R32 GTR with enough mods to get it to 400hp at the wheels instead of the AWD 240 that will tear itself to peices with the stock 333hp