RB30DET into VB

[brough]

anyone done it?

what do i need?

[slo_firo]

Vl cross member ect to bolt it in, would probably help to have a whole vl spare doner car,

mates put a rb25det into a vk and he put the whole vl dash ect.... not sure why or just becos its a better looking setup,

youll need a custom cpu to run a 30det anyways so the factory 3l wiring probly not guna be the most help to you

[grigor]

Not worth the effort. It's a VB. See attached photos of VB with RB20 I did for my son years ago. That car was completely rebuilt, all NEW bits, but in the end it's still just a Commodore.
But for engineering we needed the VL crossmember, VL turbo front brakes, VL turbo diff and tailshaft, VL fuel tank, pump and pipes, VL radiator.
You'll have to weld the rear suspension brackets to the floor pan as the extra power just tears them off. Needs diff ratio change to 4.11.
The wiring is a challenge but not impossible as the commo stuff is so easy.
No allowance in the floor pan for a cat but these days you can buy a Magic cat which is much smaller.
As an Rb30det isn't an engine with any "history", I doubt you'll get the car engineer approved.

[walesy]

ive seen it done... there was one in street machine... rb20 into commodore is useless, not enough power for a larger car, why change to 411?? 3.45 is fine

[rb26dett]

If you drove an RB20, you would understand why.

[walesy]

does it need 4.11 to get up and go?? i searched on calaisturbo and there was nothing but bad things said for rb20 conversions

[grigor]

[QUOTE=walesy_5.0;504641]does it need 4.11 to get up and go??

Yes. That's the right gearing when using 16" or 17" wheels, should be doing 100k in 5th at around 2900rpm. You'd have to try different tyre sizes as I have to really notice the difference.
As for the weight difference, go check the weight of an R32 V's a VB. You'll be surprised.
Of course the Rb20 is old fashioned these days compared to the Rb25, that's why caistaturbo dumps on them. It costs a heap to get 200rwkw from an Rb20 whereas an Rb25 makes it so easily. 290rwkw is about the limit of a stock bottom end Rb25 but a stock Rb20 bottom end won't get near that.
If you want a car to drive, go around corners, stop etc, you don't want a VB no matter what brand re-power you do.

[POVRTY]

i have a vb that goes good around corners but your right about the stopping part.............good to c the old vb's getting heart transplants.

[ookami]

There shouldn't be to many hassels as long as you stick with using a MX7 gearbox. If you go to an RB25 gearbox you'll need to make a circuit to interface the eletronic speedo drive of the RB25 box to that of the mechanic of the old commodore dash. As said before you can use the VL cross member to mount the engine. I'm not real sure about the gearbox, I'm guessing you'd be better off buying the VLT one and using it and adapting to suit the VB. You'll also need a VL (or VK EFI) fuel tank. In reality you'd be better off getting a VL Turbo with a RB30ET from the start. And do the Twin cam head conversion to it if you really want the RB30DET For the money it costs its simply not worth it as VLs are cheap as now days.

[grigor]

Converting the Rb25 box's speedo drive to suit the mechanical speedo is easy when compared to the rest of the job.
To get a good Rb30det up and running you won't have much change from $8k, with engine management and tuning on top.
Then you'll have at least 300-350rwkw going through a VB chassis????
Start with a decent platform in the first place, something that was designed for go, stop and corners originally.
I'm all for restoring older cars, but to re-power with such an engine is just a waste.
And Povrty you won't have decent brakes with those ancient tapered roller bearing stub axles. It's impossible to hold the hub properly, even with new factory tolerances between axle and bearing causing shimmy under hard braking.
I see on my wife's VS, the wheel bearing set up is similar to Nissan's from back in 1989. At last Holden's hubs run true under brakes.