810 RB Swap...second attempt...

[M-town]

Alright, so for all of you who don't know me, I am Mohammed was a member at Ratsun. Though I haven't been there for couple years now or more. I have known many members but all thanks goes to HRH for introducing me into this world.

Anyway, I had many Datsuns over the years, my first was a 610, that car gave me the mechanical hands-on knowledge that I lacked. I tinkered on cars all my teenage years though didn't have the confidence and depth that my Datsuns gave me. Again many thanks go to HRH for helping me get this 610 back on the road ready for Canopy of 2015!!






Now, bought this 1978 810 in 2015, I often drove it, I liked how clean and rust free it was.

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After owning it for awhile, I just loved how it rode and drove, but it lacked the power, the engine was kinda tired after 170k miles and 43 years. I considered L28t or just a hopped up L24e, but RBs seemed way better and more efficient. To be honest I thought the work involved is similar to s130s since they shared many things. Found out THEY ARE FAIRLY DIFFERENT.





So, my plan was to just make a nice cruiser with good power, the car was automatic and I wanted to keep it that way, but the ECU and wiring harness that came with it were a nightmare. After market options were very expansive to just for the transmission, add to that the cost for an aftermarket ECU for the engine...So I decided to just go with a 5 speed off of D21...


Will continue tomorrow........ DON"T POST JUST YET

[HRH]

Mohammed! I finally see a build thread! You know I got my car running on the stock harness, although it has issues, hence my going with the wiring specialties harness. It's not that bad to hook up the various connections, though now that I'm thinking, you got the RB25 and the new version, probably more wires than the RB20 old version I have. Remember this? Racing the wagon. Dual SUs and the L18 couldn't edge out the L24. Of course, that was when it still worked, before I blew up the engine on a separate trip.

[flatcat19]

Haha. That second pic is my house.

Carry on, Mo.

[M-town]

Mohammed! I finally see a build thread! You know I got my car running on the stock harness, although it has issues, hence my going with the wiring specialties harness. It's not that bad to hook up the various connections, though now that I'm thinking, you got the RB25 and the new version, probably more wires than the RB20 old version I have. Remember this? Racing the wagon. Dual SUs and the L18 couldn't edge out the L24. Of course, that was when it still worked, before I blew up the engine on a separate trip.

Hahahaha good memories! we were doing 90 or so in that picture..


The wiring harness I got with this engine was butchered, cut wires, broken connectors..etc, it looked like the harness got stuck during transportation and they just yanked it with a forklift. So I found this company that sells complete ECUs with a harness for $450, tunable..etc

[M-town]

Haha. That second pic is my house.

Carry on, Mo.

Yes! it was a nice day we had fun good bbq, good cars!

[M-town]

Alright!



Fast forward, pulled the engine around 2018, I was at a buddies farm, he allowed us to use the barn and so we did. pulled the motor out modified the crossmember and used motor mounts from L24e (same old ones), test fitted everything. The motor clears everything, the oil pan sits as low as the crossmember, exhaust manifold clears the frame. One thing I have noticed is RBs are a lot shorter than L24s.









Alright this is where I'm at.

Yesterday I dropped the engine in without to see how much clearance I would have to install rack and pinion. For this I've already scored a rack from HRH's Uglybetty (910) along with the steering column, the issue am against now is I only have 2.5" of clearance between the oil pan and the crossmember. Good thing this engine is a front sump. Another issue is the 810 crossmember is a lot narrower than 910, the mounting points are much wider and further apart, can't weld mounting brackets on due to limited space between motor mounts.

another issue is hydraulic lines are sticking out too far, hitting the bottom of the oil pan.

An alternative to this would be manual rack out of s130. they have a narrower mounting point and of course no hydraulic lines. it's a bit dry for ZXs here, but keeping an eye out.



Here you can see the difference between 810 and 910 is the end of the column here it u-joint is longer on the 910 column. Everything else is pretty much the same. no cutting or welding required, just swap everything from 810 column.








Today I will try to extract the Auto trans pilot bearing from the RB, I've tried using a puller and it didn't work...will have to think of something. Then bolt the trans to the motor and drop both of them in and try to make a trans mount of some sorts..We Shall See

[M-town]

I spent most my Friday afternoon trying to get the transmission situation squared away. Because of my limited resources for not being able to work for the last 4 months or so, I can't really afford to get a proper 5 speed transmission that will bolt to the RB. Therefore, I went to 5w71c out of I think an 1987 D21 with a KA.

I have read and read, most people said this specific trans will not bolt up to the RB, and They are Right. Only 2 bolts line up. the top two bolts and the alignment pen do not align.

The top right bolt can be drilled bigger, and so is the alignment pen. The fourth whole will not work, and if drilled it will weaken the bellhousing. Basically the transmission is bolted with only 3 bolts instead of 4. I believe it will work. the car is light, the engine is making stock power.


I'm not 100% sure that this is the right thing to do. Though I'm open for suggestions..


What I did was, bolt the bellhousing spacer to the transmission starter holes, which will locate the location of the holes. and then drill away.




Another issue I ran into was the Automatic transmission pilot bearing. I tried using a puller but all it did was scar things up because that pilot bearing is seated flush.



I read somewhere that best and fast way to get it out, is to weld a nut to the outside and drive a bolt in to push the pilot bearing out. and it worked pretty straight forward and easy.








Next will drop the engine and trans in to build transmission mounts and see where things line up. we didn't line things up after we modified the crossmember. THIS WILL BE INTERESTING!


Feel free to comment, most of you guys have a respectable amount of knowledge and experience. This is my first rodeo. I'm open to suggestions and improvement!

[HRH]

Nice pilot bearing pull! As for the transmission, get or make or have someone make an adapter plate. 3 out of 4 is not good on an RB, that will be a problem very quickly. Why didn't you want to just use the auto, or did that engine not come with an trans?

[M-town]

Yes it came with an Auto, needs ECU, wiring harness..many people have adviced me not to go that.. it just made thinga complicated as to hooking everything up.

[HRH]

I think you may be able to remove the RB front case half and swap it onto the other trans with some effort? I know it's doable for KA/L, but some of the RB trans are bigger. The RB20 trans looks like a KA, size wise.