awd ti conversion

[tiFreak]

nearly everyone at my school drives either a pos beater, their parent's car, or a ricer

[DustenT]

Post pics of your tool chest and shop, I'll tell you if this is possible.

Great high school project. What's your budget?

[318tian]

one of my best friends (the one with the z) parents own an rv dealership and they sell, repair them in their massive shop (it has 4 garge doors and will comfortably fit atleast 5 rvs in it. its huge.). i have access to anything in their and i honestly cant think of anything that isnt in their, lol. they have the thing you roll up to the car to pull out the engine but it collects dust in the corner because they even have a machine that slides back and forth across a beam on the ceiling and has a chain with a hook coming down off it and is rated to lift 1 ton. money is not what im concerned with. aside from the ti and engine i think i can pull the rest off for around $1000. im more worried bout the electrical side of things if u kno what i mean. and im hoping some one on here will fill me in on some of that. (hint hint)

[DustenT]

Originally Posted by La.ti,racer

one of my best friends (the one with the z) parents own an rv dealership and they sell, repair them in their massive shop (it has 4 garge doors and will comfortably fit atleast 5 rvs in it. its huge.). i have access to anything in their and i honestly cant think of anything that isnt in their, lol. they have the thing you roll up to the car to pull out the engine but it collects dust in the corner because they even have a machine that slides back and forth across a beam on the ceiling and has a chain with a hook coming down off it and is rated to lift 1 ton. money is not what im concerned with. aside from the ti and engine i think i can pull the rest off for around $1000. im more worried bout the electrical side of things if u kno what i mean. and im hoping some one on here will fill me in on some of that. (hint hint)

Well, sounds like you are all set then. Keep us all informed as you get started.

What's so hard about the electrical? You'll need a full RB26 harness, the only thing you need to tie into the car are ignition and tach really. I'd go all out and do a custom gauge cluster, maybe a STACK unit, and a simple push button ignition to get you going. BTW - have you done ANY measuring? An RB26 is a BIG motor and with an AWD tranny you'll likely need to cut and modify the firewall to make anything fit together. $1000? LOL

[thesk8nmidget]

dusten is right skylines are very large cars... you may want to think about a smaller motor... have you thought about some sort of subaru motor and drivetrain? sti maybe?


the subarus are much smaller than a skyline and will have plenty of power still

[318tian]

yeah i know its big. the tranny seems to be a bigger problem then the engine though. its enormous! but i wanna do an rb26 if at all possible. i could always go with a subaru or evo set up, but it just isnt the same. with a project that in depth i wont mind pullin out the plasma cutter and hacking some crap outta my way. lol. so ide have to figure out the igniton, tach(prolly just buy an aftermarket one and stick it in there), and im guessing the p/s and a/c have to be modified right? i plan on going awd for certain but like i said, i may look into other set ups. the e30 325ix fwd parts i dont think will handle the power either. yeah that estimate was based on using used e30 parts to do awd conversion and the more i look into it, i dont think they will handle alotta power. im good at fabricating but i just dont know alot about all the engine stuff like modified ecu and stuff. i was looking at an entire skyline front cap. im thinking most of my problems would be capable of solving with a whole front end.

[blndweasel]

Originally Posted by La.ti,racer

rice it out (im sure yall know what that means)...

Isn't that exactly what you're talking about doing?

putting a Japanese engine in a BMW is just sacrilege.

[318tian]

rice. and rb26, are two terms that cant be put in the same sentence. there is nothing ricey about basically the best japenese engine made. an rb26dett is an engine worthy of any car. BMW doesnt make a I6 anywhere near as powerfull as this motor. im not jus wanting to stick anything in it. im wanting to give a BMW an I6 that cant really let it loose. did u read the first post?

Originally Posted by La.ti,racer

i didnt post this to hear people say its dumb or gonna slow the car down or anything like that.

[DustenT]

Originally Posted by La.ti,racer

rice. and rb26, are two terms that cant be put in the same sentence. there is nothing ricey about basically the best japenese engine made. an rb26dett is an engine worthy of any car. BMW doesnt make a I6 anywhere near as powerfull as this motor. im not jus wanting to stick anything in it. im wanting to give a BMW an I6 that cant really let it loose. did u read the first post?

s52 and s54 are both monster engines and native to the e36 platform. Did you look at the s38 m5 motor?

Look at the weight of the rb26 and the awd tranny. The rb26 is HEAVY. I've seen MANY rb26 swapped 240s and they always sit super low in the front because the motor is WAY to heavy for that platform. If you have your heart set on a monster Nissan motor, look at the sr20det. We've swapped them into lots of cars and they are great little motors.

The 318ti does best (IMO) in almost stock form. Underpowered, agile, and FUN to drive. The 318ti will not "get away" from you, and that is so important when you want to learn how to push a car and driver to their limits.

[minicoop900]

hey la.ti,racer
where do yu live in LA?
i live in new orleans

[318tian]

its not a monster nissan i have my mind set on. its an awd ti with a monster engine period, rb26 are just extremely strong and have been pushed to more than 1200hp many times (i dont want this much, but it makes me feel better sittin at 700 and knowing im nowhere near my engines limit/point of blowing up) like i said imma keep looking into the evo, wrx, and vr4 setups as well. i jus like the thought of awd and one of the best engines put together. double win

[DustenT]

Originally Posted by La.ti,racer

its not a monster nissan i have my mind set on. its an awd ti with a monster engine period, rb26 are just extremely strong and have been pushed to more than 1200hp many times (i dont want this much, but it makes me feel better sittin at 700 and knowing im nowhere near my engines limit/point of blowing up) like i said imma looking into the evo, wrx, and vr4 setups as well. i jus like the thought of awd and one of the best engines put together. double win

I'm having trouble understanding why you'd want to use the 318ti chassis for something like this. The 318ti has the weakest chassis of all the e36s. The rear suspension is prehistoric. Why not just use the Evo, WRX or VR4 chassis that was actually DESIGNED and ENGINEERED around an AWD high-power engine? Seems like you are setting yourself up for a lot of headaches to make something like this drive right and handle.

[318tian]

i live in monroe. and i dont just want to have another evo or wrx, i want a ti! i dont get on this site constantly becuase i like evos and wrxs. the rear subframe is interchangable with the decent m3 one isnt it? i want to build and awd ti becuase most people think logically like yourself and thats why its never been done. its always good to do something completely unique from all other tis.

[DustenT]

Originally Posted by La.ti,racer

i live in monroe. and i dont just want to have another evo or wrx, i want a ti! i dont get on this site constantly becuase i like evos and wrxs. the rear subframe is interchangable with the decent m3 one isnt it? i want to build and awd ti becuase most people think logically like yourself and thats why its never been done. its always good to do something completely unique from all other tis.

No, they are not the same. The 318ti uses the older trailing arm setup like an e30. The m3 subframe is not compatible. Also, the m3 chassis has MUCH more bracing and support to handle additional power. You are starting with the wrong chassis, sorry to say, especially with your budget.

[96cali]

Originally Posted by DustenT

I'm having trouble understanding why you'd want to use the 318ti chassis for something like this. The 318ti has the weakest chassis of all the e36s. The rear suspension is prehistoric. Why not just use the Evo, WRX or VR4 chassis that was actually DESIGNED and ENGINEERED around an AWD high-power engine? Seems like you are setting yourself up for a lot of headaches to make something like this drive right and handle.

cool project, but yeah +1