Author: Team GTR

Fitting the RB30 engine into the R33 GTR bay wasn't simple. It took several of us to swing the engine and gearbox into the car and unlike the RB26DETT previously it fouled on a lot. We had to remove the JUN inlet plenum, front crash bar, headlights, Anti-Roll bar and loosed the engine mounts just to get the engine to sit in its rightful place.

Trying to put the JUN inlet plenum back was impossible as it would hit the Clutch Master Cylinder. Two options, replaced the Clutch Master Cylinder, or take a chunk out of the Inlet plenum. We opted to change the Clutch Master Cylinder.

We ended up removing the R33 GTR Clutch master cylinder and replacing it with one sourced from a Nissan S15. The S15 one isn't servo assisted like the stock R33 GTR ones, so it's a lot smaller in size. It was so small in fact we had to put in a spacer to bring it away from the firewall so the bottle top could be fitted.

Once we removed the existing master cylinder, we drew up a cardboard template of the new Clutch Master cylinder and drilled two holes. We fitted the Clutch Master Cylinder and bent the existing pipe that went to the R33 one to the Silvia one.

Tip: The Brake master cylinder needs to be loosened to remove the Clutch Master cylinder.

Initially the Altezza was only going to have the drivers seat, however after though suggested it would be good to scare my mates, and girlfriend by taking them out in the Tezza.

Bought a welder over the weekend from our trusty friends at Machine Mart, and set about fabricating the subframe for the seat out of thick steel.

Bit of a "deep end" approach as thick steel isn't the easiest to use, but gives me a new sense of appreciation for welding, it's not as simple as it looks!

Final result seat is in, and it definitely isn't going anywhere!

Quick update over the weekend, with the HKS 264 cams fitted to the Altezza GTR engine last weekend it was time to progress onto a more important issue.

In the last five years of owning the Skyline GTR two engines were lost due to oiling issues. It's the achilles heel of the legendary RB26 engine. The first engine blew due to oil pump failure, the second due to the oil pickup running dry.

Replacing the stock oil pump with a HKS oil pump which retails over £1k may seem excessive for a 400bhp engine build, but considering an engine costs far more it's well worth it.

With the ultra low stance of the Altezza GTR thanks to the MeisterR Coilovers means lateral G forces are likely to increase and the standard RB baffle is really not up to the job of keeping the oil in the sump. Luckily Tomei have a relatively inexpensive off the shelf kit that requires a little drilling to fit.

A tip for anyone doing the conversion, the last hole that needs drilling by the transfer box, we had to weld two drill bits together, seems crude but it was a bit of fabrication or trying to source a very long 5mm drill bit.

Next mods is the drivetrain with an Exedy Carbon triple plate clutch scheduled to arrive from Japan before reinstalling the engine complete back into the Altezza body.

Over the last year, the team has focused efforts on the Altezza GTR leaving the Skyline GTR behind. It's been reliable at very low 11's, but not hit the 10's consistently. It was decided that although the maximum BHP output of the engine has high, this was at the end of the rev range for short duration. It needs bigger displacement and a better head.

The 6 speed Getrag has already been sold and sent off to South Africa, replaced with an OS Giken 5 speed.

The entire engine had been sent off and split. After four years of racing the engine was in great condition, with no damage to the crank and slight DET on piston 6, which on RB26's is common as its the hot cylinder. The plans for 2012 will be a bigger and stronger bottom end with a revised head setup, and better engine management.

I've been looking into twin-charging the RB26 for a while now, and it may / may not be part of the 2012 setup. Will have to weigh up the parasitic loss from driving a supercharger, over the gains to be had on a Turbo which produces the BHP but with a lot of lag.