ive been thinking about doing a conversion on my car, not sure what to put in yet maybe a v8, maybe a 6-pot. im wondering, what are the odds on fiting a rb20 out of a vl commy in a datto?

Karl

VLs had the SOHC 2v RB30 motor. If NZ's rules are anything like ours it would be unregisterable - unless your name is Rod Hadfeild and you get in the Minister for Transport's pocket. (For those who live outside of Aus - Rod managed to get his 55 Chev 'legally' registered with a supercharged 3000bhp Merlin V12 engine out of a WWII figther plane! )

lots more work involved in trying to fit a straight six than the V8 with firewall recessing, trans tunnel/floorpan fabrication.

But I promise I won't say the Rover V8 is lighter...

Isnt the RB20 the GTS Skyline motor as well? Would be alot easier to find the nissan version than the Holden one and I wouldnt imagine theyd be much different.

Havnt ever heard of that conversion before, SR20 seems to have all the same advantages without being as long

I know the Sr20 only JUST makes it in the 210 engine bay. The RB20 has no hope without extensive firewall mods.

I know i'm a nit picky bastard, but according to Bill Gunston in his book "Aero Engines" [second edition 1986 & '89, page 142]

"In 1945, special Merlins were giving up to 2,780hp at 36lb of boost, running on fuel with monomethane aniline added"

At wars end, Mustangs were running Merlins with much closer to 2,200hp It's all academic really, but no production Merlin produced 3,000hp.....ever.

Yeah yeah, i know, pickey pickey pickey.
Chris

he's in new zealand,where vl's had rb20 twin cams.i agree about the rb20 not fitting,but what about a vg30,it might fit.funniest looking conversion i've seen was a vg30de into a r30 skyline,you could stand in the engine bay between the radiator & the motor.p.s chris,you might like to read a book called 'not much of an engineer'by sir stanley hooker.he was the guy who got the v12 merlin motor really honking,& was the one who basically said why not put the compound supercharged bomber engine into the spitfire.it's a good read.might distract you from nick's naughty nymphette.

B310GX
Thanks for the tip. If i can find the book, i will buy it as i am a strong aviation buff. Beukeleow's book barn is not far away, so i will check it out.

By the way, if you have any leads on stuff for a Boomerang fighter, we would be glad to hear of it as a friend is attempting a full resto on A46-158, a CA13 fighter. Much of the airframe is now complete.
Chris

you are a picky bastard, aren't ya? what's a several hundred bhp between friends?

hey, you might know if this is true. A friend who was a RAAF aircraft tech, told me that when servicing those old merlin engined fighters, they couldn't open up full throttle on the ground or the torque reaction would tip the plane over till the wing tip touched the ground - is that true? And if so, what the hell would happen to the poor old chev? anyone got any training wheels...

Yeah, an RB20 makes a lot of sense: all the extra work to make a low power motor fit iin exchange for having something you don't see very often.

well at the risk of taking more bait...
low power? in standard R32 trim they move 1380kg of car to mid 14 sec quarters, and have easy potential to 260kw+ on the std turbo and injectors without opening anything up - just bolt ons.