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Piston Installation

Bomb the cylinders with oil, and spray a little CRC or WD40 onto the piston walls.

Clamp a ring compressor onto the piston tightly and line the piston up over the cylinder. Take note to ensure that the forward marking is facing the front of the block. In the image below, you'll see the dot on the left of the piston. This is meant to face forward.

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Gently tap the piston into the cylinder with the wooden end of a hammer until the ring compressor is free and dangling around the hammer handle. Keep knocking gently until the rod positions itself over the crank.

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Bomb the other half of the bearing in oil and position onto the big end cap.

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Position the cap onto the rod and nip up the nuts.

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Tighten the nuts up enough so that the cap just closes the gap between the rod.

Using the same formula as with the mains bolts, tighten the nuts down in 2-3 stages to a final torque setting of 11 lbft (14.7 nM / 1.5 kg-m).

Once done, use an angle gauge to torque again to 60-65 degrees. DO NOT visually measure the tightening torque if you don't own an angle wrench - BUY ONE!

My angle gauge.

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Check Your Work

Just make a final check to ensure that there is no scoring in the bores, the crank turns smoothly, and the pistons are all facing the right way.

The bottom end is now complete!

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Step 5: Block Grinding

Remove the Lugs

As I showed before, there are mainly 3 lugs that interfere with the exhaust manifold when you go to fit it to the head. In any event, do them all. Here is where we get rid of those bad boys.

To stop any metal fragments and abrasive from entering the bores when we grind the fuckers down, go ahead and cover them up with some tape.

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Attach a grinding wheel to your angle grinder.

This is the problem child we need to attend to.

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Grind the little bloke down to look similar to the image below.

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Righteeeeyo! When I came to fit the head and exhaust manifold, I found the job I did to be a little underdone. Now depending on the thickness of the head gasket you use, you may not need to grind it down any further, But it's better to do it now than later. So why not?

This is what I had to make it look like in order to get the exhaust manifold to fit. I suggest you do the same now.

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It would have been easier to do with the head off, rather than on.

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Step 6: Head Disassembly

Dissemble the RB25DE Head

First things first here. It's so easy to snap a camshaft in half if you try and do this the fast way. If you take your time and follow the steps I post below, you will eliminate entirely any chance whatsoever of turning your cams into butt plugs for some sick twink. I've tried the quick and easy method once and snapped a cam in the process, and since I've taken the extra few minutes doing it properly, it's never happened since.

Firstly, lay a bunch of rags out on your workbench equal to about the length and width of your head, and place your head (not your skull (or your cock)), cams up on the rags. The reason for this is that some of the valves are in the open position and we don't want to do any damage while we remove the cams.

Now for the long laboured part of the removal process. If you look at your cam and caps, try to envision the diagram below as representing them, F denotes Front.

01 02 03 04 05 06 07
F
01 02 03 04 05 06 07

The numbers represent the bolt holes for each cam cap. Can you see that yet? If you don't, go have a wank to clear your mind, and then come back and have another go.

After you've returned from tossing off furiously to Kate Beckinsale, have a look again at the diagram below and envision the sequence that we’re going to remove the cap bolts.

01 02 03 04 05 06 07
F
14 13 12 11 10 09 08

Now the important part, you need to undo the bolts a half turn at a time in the sequence shown above. Putting it in terms an 8 year old can understand, undo bolt 01 with a 180 degree turn once only , then move on to bolt 02 and undo that one with a 180 degree turn once only, then move on to bolt 03 and undo that one with a 180 degree turn once only, moving along in sequence until you have reached bolt number 14. Now repeat the cycle again, and again, and again, and again until all of the caps are loose and the valve springs have released their tension.
It’s a somewhat tedious process, but believe me, it’s better to do this than to find yourself on your knees in your workshop, holding two pieces of your cam whilst crying like a schoolgirl.

Make sure you have a clear space for some of these components as we proceed with the next steps as we will need to reassemble the head reusing some of them, putting them back in their original places. The parts we will be reusing are the cam caps, lifters, and valves.

Remove a cap at a time and place it down on your workbench in sequence the same way as your head is facing. It doesn’t matter whether the front is facing left or right, just as long as you have it all in the correct order and sequence as the head is facing at the time. Also, remember to make sure that the next cam that comes out is placed on the workbench in the same position as the head is facing, above or below. As an example I have made another diagram showing you what I’m on about. Obviously, C denotes Cap, F denotes Front.

C C C C C C C - Inlet Side
F
C C C C C C C - Exhaust Side

Once you have removed all of the cam caps and cams, it’s time to remove the lifters and place them in sequence along with what we have just laid out. Basically the whole thing will now look a little like this, L denotes Lifter.

C C C C C C C
LL LL LL LL LL LL
F
C C C C C C C
LL LL LL LL LL LL

You can remove the lifter by using your fingers, but if they are a bit too oily, then you can use a magnetic pick up tool to extract them.

Next comes the valves, springs, and retainers. Get yourself one of these types of valve spring compressors (VSC). This is the type of VSC that will allow entry into a recessed valve head. The old style that Dad used on his 1960 cars won’t work.

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Select the appropriate head for the VSC and put it all together. This is what it should look like assembled and ready for use.

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When it comes time to compress the valves, you can either use the little lever that comes with the kit, or do what I did and attach the setup to a cordless drill and make things easier.

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Position the VSC on both sides of the head, it should look like this.

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Wind the VSC down until the retainer clears from the collets, it may make a popping noise as you do this so don’t be alarmed.

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The easiest way I found to remove the collets is by using a magnetic pick up tool. Once you have removed the collets, place them in a small jar with a little bit of oil in it.

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If the collets refuse to come out, just wind the VSC down a little more to increase the gap between the retainer and collets.

Remove the spring and retainer and pile them up somewhere. We won’t be needing these. Now if you have a look in the recess, you will notice a valve spring washer that the spring sits on, pile these up somewhere with your arrangement as you'll be needing them. What they do is provide a barrier between the head and spring so as not to wear down the alloy of the head.

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Poke your finger into the recess where the spring used to sit and push the valve through enough to grab it and slide it out. These now need to join the nice little arrangement that you have made on your workbench.

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Just in case you need me to remind you, these need to be kept in sequence. A new diagram is now needed to show you how it should all look, V denotes Valve.

C C C C C C C
LL LL LL LL LL LL
VV VV VV VV VV VV
F
C C C C C C C
LL LL LL LL LL LL
VV VV VV VV VV VV

Now you’ll need to remove the old valve stem seals. Don’t be a skimpy prick and think that they’re okay, you’re here, do them. Get yourself a valve stem seal kit (VSS), it will look similar to this one I have.

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Grab those plier looking things which is the VSS extractor and have a look in the spring recess, you’ll see the stem seal.

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Stick the extractor into the recess and get a lock on the stem seal. Hold the head with one hand, and use the other to twist off the seal using a side to side motion while pulling upwards. Be careful not to look over the head as you do this because when the seal comes out, you’ll end up punching yourself in the face.

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This is the stem seal once extracted.

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Now all that’s left to do is to scrape off all of the old gasket remnants before sending the head off to be decked.

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You should be left with the 25DE cams, valve springs and retainers. Either throw them away or sell them off (good luck with that one).

[2LV8ETR]

Step 7: Decking The Head

Do It!

Send your head away to be decked. It’s relatively cheap (mine cost $100.00) and it’s worth the money to make sure there’s a nice even fitment to the block.

It’s off, so don’t piss and moan about it. Send it off to be done.

Here’s what mine looked like when it returned.

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Again, Tony from Classic & Performance Engineering (0408 718 574) did the work and again, he did a spectacular job.

When the head returned I gave it a thorough cleaning and degreasing. After I washed everything off, I blew it down and left it out in the sun to dry out. After it was dry, I sprayed the valve guides with CRC to prevent rusting.

Cost - $100.00 (decking of head)
Total Spent - $1275.00

[2LV8ETR]

Step 8: Disassembly Of The 20DET Head

We Need Some Bits

Following the breakdown procedures shown in step 6, you need to keep the cams, and the springs & retainers. Don’t worry about removing the valve stem seals as all the head will be good for is a paperweight. You may be lucky and get a few bucks for the bare 20DET head, but again it’s a case of good luck with that one.

Now, one of the important factors here is to ensure you follow the tedious process I showed you in Step 6 for removing the cam caps, you do not want to snap a cam!

Another important factor is to place the springs and cams in the correct position within the arrangement you have going on your workbench.

As you remove the cams, place them within your arrangement to resemble the following diagram. Obviously, ---------- CAM ---------- denotes the Cam.

---------- CAM ----------
C C C C C C C
LL LL LL LL LL LL
VV VV VV VV VV VV
F
C C C C C C C
LL LL LL LL LL LL
VV VV VV VV VV VV
---------- CAM ----------

As you remove the valve springs/retainers, add them to your little arrangement which should now look like this. Again, S denotes the Spring with the retainer sitting on top of it.

---------- CAM ----------
C C C C C C C
LL LL LL LL LL LL
VV VV VV VV VV VV
SS SS SS SS SS SS
F
C C C C C C C
LL LL LL LL LL LL
VV VV VV VV VV VV
SS SS SS SS SS SS
---------- CAM ----------

Now we’re ready to assemble the head!

[2LV8ETR]

Step 9: Assembling The Head Part 1

Lapping Valves

This step is not critical, but believe me when I say that it’s a good thing to do. You will be placing the valves back into the head that won’t be in the exact position that they were removed from so there may be a minor gap somewhere in the sealing of the seating.
Again, you’re here so why the fuck not spend half an hour of your life to make sure it’s right?

This is a valve lapping tool.

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When you buy one of these, try to get a kit that gives you various sizes so you can select the appropriate one for the size of valve you’re dealing with.

Place the head on your workbench with the flat side facing up. Starting from whatever point in your valvetrain arrangement that you have accumulated in previous steps, select a valve and find it’s corresponding home on the head.

Use a bit of water (or spit) in the suction cup of the lapper and attach it to the valve.

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Line the underside (seat) of the valve with some lapping compound. Make sure that the consistency of the paste is like peanut butter, if needed just add a little water to the compound to make it so. If it’s too dry, it wont stay on the valve when you lap it in.

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Spray a bit of CRC on the valve stem to facilitate lubrication while we lap the valve in. Next, drop the valve in it’s corresponding port and slide it all the way down until it’s in position.

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Now you need to apply some slight downward pressure as you “swizzle” the lapper from side to side in the palms of your hand. Didn’t get that huh? Okay. Imagine that you’re a Neanderthal (shouldn’t be too hard) trying to start a fire to cook up some Brontosaurus burgers. Now do you get the picture? No? Okay, go watch Encino Man then.

After some time of doing this, you will feel and hear the grinding stop, the noise and feel stops becoming gritty. You’ll see what I mean. When this happens, remove the valve and then check the entire seating surface of the valve and its sealing seat. What you want to see is a consistent and shiny surface around the seal. It should look like this.

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If it doesn’t look like this, then apply some more compound and repeat the procedure until it does. You’ll need to do this with every valve until they’re all done.

Once you have done this grab a brass or copper mini wire brush and clean all of the carbon off of the valves, and then wipe all of the remaining lapping compound from the valve. While you’re at it, clean all of the lapping compound out of the head.

Installing The Valves Stem Seals

Do you remember the VSS kit I showed you in step 6? Not the VSC kit, the VSS kit with the plier looking things in that we used to remove the valve stem seals. Okay, we need to use the rest of that kit which has a tool in it to insert the new valve stem seals.

The first thing is to grab a new valve stem seal and find the appropriate tool head. The way to do this is try each tip at a time until you find one that slides on and off the seal easily, but also stays on when inserted.

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This is the insertion tool handle. It looks pretty sus, huh? Now don’t get any funny ideas and sneak off to see if it will please the missus, we have work to do. Attach the tip to the handle and slip on a stem seal.

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Dip the tip and seal into some oil.

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Place the seal over the valve stem guide and press down until the seal seats nicely.

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The seal should be nicely seated as shown below.

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Installing The Valves

You’ll need to position the head on your workbench with the face down. You can either perch like I have done below, or sit it on something that will allow you to gain access to both sides of the head.

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We need to place the valve spring washer into the head. These are the washers that we removed previously.

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Grab one and drop it into the valve recess.

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It should look like this.

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Slip a valve which corresponds with the arrangement on your workbench into its appropriate home in the head, then place a spring, and then a retainer into the recess. It should look like this.

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Then place a collet on each side of the retainer hole. It should look like this.

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Place the VSC into position and crank it down slowly.

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Now comes the bitch. These things can be a pain in the arse to get in. There is a knack to it but it will be a matter of trial and error until you get it right. It’s not easy to explain in words but you’ll need just the right amount of tension on the VSC with enough clearance for the collet to be pushed into place using a screwdriver (non magnetic).
Once both of the collets are in place, back the VSC off until it’s cleared. Sometimes a collet will pop out and you’ll need to keep repeating the process until you get it right, but like I said, it’s trial and error. This is one part of a head build that I hate.

Once it’s all seated properly, give the top of the spring a tap with a plastic hammer to make sure it’s free and operational.

Next, drop the corresponding lifter onto the top of the valve spring assembly.

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We won't be dropping the cams on just yet. There's a reason for this and you'll see why soon.

Cost - $91.21 (full gasket set from Eristic in the US)
Total Spent - $1366.21

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Step 10: Mating The Head To The Block

It’s Coming Together Now!

First up, don’t be a dick. Buy brand new head bolts. Many people out there reuse them with success, but many also have had failure trying to skimp on a few bucks. Whether you want to replace them with standard or race spec ACL studs, it’s up to you but just replace them.

If you’re going stock, you’ll need a 10mm one of these.

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Drop the alignment ferrules into the block. There should be two of them and it’s a clear as dog balls where they go.

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Place the head gasket onto the block. Again this will only go on properly one way.

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Now CAREFULLY place the head in position on the block. Take your time with this step and do not drag it around until it locates onto the ferrules. You will damage the surface if you do not take your time.

Grab a head bolt and washer.

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Dip the washer and tip of the bolt into some oil.

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Drop the washer into place, then the head bolt. Do the head bolt up until it’s finger tight. Repeat the process until all of the bolts and washers are in place.

Next we need to torque down the bolts. There is a particular sequence to follow as well as a series of torque settings.

Again I need to make a diagram to show the tightening sequence.

F denotes Front, and the numbers represent the bolt holes.

12 08 04 02 06 10 13
F
11 07 03 01 05 09 14

Okay, now that the sequence is shown, the different stages are as follows.

Stage 1: Tighten to 3kg-m (21.69ftlb, 29.4Nm).
Stage 2: Tighten to 10kg-m (72.3ftlb, 98Nm).
Stage 3: Loosen all bolts in a reverse sequence to that shown above.
Stage 4: Tighten to 3.5kg-m (25.31ftlb, 34.3Nm).
Stage 5: Tighten to either 10kg-m (72.3ftlb, 98Nm), or if you have an angle wrench turn to 90 degrees.

There are three other bolts associated with the head. There are two at the very rear of the head, and one towards the front next to the number one intake port.

Here are the rear bolts.

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Here is the front bolt.

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Torque these down to 1kg-m (7.23ftlb, 9.8Nm).

Cost - $50.00 (Head bolts from Auto One)
Total Spent - $1416.21

[2LV8ETR]

Step 11: Assembling The Head Part 2

TDC

If you haven’t already, set the crank to top dead centre (TDC). It should look like this.

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Cams

Now the reason I prefer to nip the cams up on the head is because as you do so, some of the valves start to open up and protrude from the underside, which can cause damage if care is not taken to prevent this. The way to prevent this is easy, do it on the block. Simple as, huh?

Place the appropriate cam from the remainder of your arrangement onto the head. Again, take your time and line it up so that the runners and races line up.

The inlet and exhaust cams have different profiles so don’t mix them up. Just for reference, if you look at the very front of the cams you’ll see one that has been machined out with a D shaped lug. This is the cam that goes on the exhaust side. That lug is to drive the CAS.

Now place the appropriate cam caps on the head in the corresponding order to what you have laid out on your arrangement. If you happen to have messed this up, don’t despair, we can sort it out. Here is another diagram for you.

I1 I2 I3 I4 I5 I5 I7
F
E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 E6 E7

Okay, if you look at the diagram above you’ll notice that on the top of the caps there is a stamping with either an I or E followed by a number. The diagram above shows the location of the cap in relation to the head.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the caps must be place right side up in relation to the diagram. In other words, if you have the front of the head to the left as shown above, the writing that’s stamped on the cap must not be upside down.

When you position the cam onto the head, line them up so that the cam pulley alignment pins at the very front of the cams are facing outwards in the same direction as the exhaust and inlet ports. You need to do this to avoid bending a valve when you tighten down the caps. They don’t have to be exact as there is a bit of leeway for error, but get them as close as possible.

Another way to do this properly is to temporarily fit the upper timing cover backing plate onto the head, fit the cam pulley onto the cam, and turn it till it lines up with the marks on the cover. It should look similar to this.

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IMPORTANT!!!!

When you go to tighten the caps up, use the same principals as stated previously in the head disassembly sections.

The first thing to do is to do the bolts of the caps up finger tight. Then tighten them down a half turn (180 degrees) a bolt at a time in the sequence previously shown. If you don’t, then you will hear a loud crack and you’ll find yourself with a cam that is now in two pieces. Take your time, and don’t rush it.

Just tighten the caps until they are just contacting the head, as we’ll need to torque these up.

Once you have done this with each cam, it's time to torque them up. Set your torque wrench to 1.2kg-m (8.68ftlb, 11.76Nm) and tighten them up. There is no particular sequence to this step. I had to use my smaller torque wrench for this step as my larger one doesn’t go down to this setting.

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Your engine should now look like this.

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Now drop the splash shields onto the head. Note the orientation. Torque these up to 1.2kg-m (8.68ftlb, 11.76Nm) as well.

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Cam Seals

Find the half moon seals, they will look like this.

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Place some sealant on them and on the head.

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Push them into position and wipe off any excess.

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The last cam seals are for the very front. You don’t need to, but I use a very light film of sealant on the outside before I push them into place.

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[2LV8ETR]

Step 12: Timing Gear Part 1

Relocating The Timing Tensioner

We need to relocate the timing belt tensioner, so the best position for it is higher than its current location. The reason all of the timing belt layout has to change is for two reasons. One, the block is taller than the original RB20, second, the cam is no longer single, but double. After researching, the best position for it is as follows.

Measure 33mm across from the centre of the bolt hole shown below. Mark the position.

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Measure 18mm down from the top of the block as shown below. Mark the position, sorry for the shitty picture, but you get the idea).

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Use a centrepunch to mark the hole for drilling.

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I drilled the hole out in three stages, first with a 2mm bit, second with a 5mm bit, then finally with an 8mm bit. If you are doing this yourself, make sure you drill it perpendicular on both axis with the block. If you need to, use a spotter to help you to keep the drill horizontal while you concentrate on the vertical alignment.
If you aren’t confident with this step, send the block off prior to assembly to a machinist who will gladly accept your hard earned cash for a 15 minute job.

Next I selected a 10x1.25 metric tap. This is the same thread type as used by the idler bearing. The reason I went for the bolt instead of stud is because I tried everything to remove the old tensioner stud to reuse it, but I was unsuccessful. I ended up grinding the bastard off.

The old stud ground off.

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The tap.

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If you don't already have one, buy yourself a tap and die set. The cost of this will be equivalent to having the job done by someone else, and besides, they are a very handy thing to have!

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Check the thread to make sure it is completely through and into the water jacket.

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Test fit the bolt.

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Next, I fit the idler bearing, tensioner, and crank and cam pulleys. I then purchased a timing belt that was 11 teeth longer than standard. For your reference, the Dayco part number is 94407.

I then test fit the belt. This gave me an instant hard-on.

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Now I know what you’re thinking. He’s using a rusty old idler and tensioner bearing. No, it’s just a test fit.

I disassembled the setup and proceeded to the next step.

By the way, this is where to old tensioner stud used to sit with the setup test fitted. If you can’t get it out either, grind it off.

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Cost - $45.00 (Timing belt from Auto One)
Total Spent - $1461.21

[2LV8ETR]

Step 13: Oil Pump

I used an oil pump off an RB26. I cleaned up the old gasket material and removed the seal, but did not clean the whole thing with degreaser or water. It was a little bit oily from being handled when it was removed so I just used a rag to clean off the excess. There’s something about an oil pump submerged in water that turns me off doing it.

Anyhoooooo, I applied a generous amount of gasket sealant to the back of the pump, placed the gasket into position on the pump, applied more sealant to the gasket then slid it over the crank and bolted it up finger tight.

I then set my small torque wrench to 1.1kg-m (7.95ftlb, 10.78Nm) and torqued it down.

Don’t bother cleaning off the excess sealant, it’s not hurting anything and you won’t see it anyway.

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Slip the oil seal over the crank and push it into place. Again I used a very thin film of sealant before seating it.

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[2LV8ETR]

Step 14: Water Pump

I have no issues with submersing the water pump in water so I cleaned off all of the old gasket sealant and degreased the whole thing. The pump I used was my old RB20 pump which was recently changed before I removed it for this build, so I know it’s in serviceable condition and reused it. If it had been 100,000km old and not 15,000km, I would have replaced it.

After applying a generous amount of sealant I placed it onto the block and bolted it down. Don’t forget to fit the alternator bracket before bolting it all down.

Torque all of the 14mm bolts down to 3.8kg-m (27.47ftlb, 37.24Nm), the 12mm bolts down to 1.9kg-m (13.74ftlb, 18.62Nm), and the 10mm bolt down to 0.75 kg-m (5.42ftlb, 7.35Nm).

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[2LV8ETR]

Step 15: Timing Belt Preparation

Attach the rear upper timing cover.

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Place the cam pulleys onto the cams and torque the bolts down to 1.6kg-m (11.57ftlb, 15.68Nm)

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Place the CAS cradle into position and torque the bolts down to 2.5kg-m (18.08ftlb, 24.5Nm)

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Place the idler bearing onto the bolt with a washer and torque down to 5kg-m (36.15ftlb, 49Nm). Okay, the image I’m using here is from the test fit. I am not using rusty old bearings! See, no oil or water pump.

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[2LV8ETR]

Step 16: Timing Gear Part 2

Place some gasket sealant on the end of the tensioner bolt. Remember that this is the new hole we created that goes into the water jacket, so we need to seal it to prevent leaking. I am using a high grade, high tensile steel bolt for this fitment.

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Nip the bolt all the way up, but leave a little bit of slack for when we have to adjust it when the belt is installed.

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The idler bearing, look, no rusty crap. Remember when I said that the water pump was only 15k old, well I did the timing belt kit at the same time, so I am reusing them.

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[2LV8ETR]

Step 17: Crank Timing Pulley

Slip the timing belt plate onto the crank.

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Place the crank key into the slot closest to the oil pump, you may need to tap it into place. The other one is for the harmonic balancer.

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The crank timing pulleys can be an absolute bastard to remove, so to facilitate the removal for next time, use a little bit of fine grit paper to clean any rust or buildup off the crank and on the inside of the pulley. Then spray some CRC or apply oil to the surfaces before slipping the pulley into position.

Slip the crank timing pulley onto the crankshaft. Make sure that the side with the little dot on it is facing outwards.

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[2LV8ETR]

Step 18: Timing Belt Installation

Alignment

We’ll need to align everything up as close as possible to ensure that there is no room for error. We can adjust the three main points a little as we go.

First, align the crank timing pulley. If you look at the image below, you’ll notice that the little dot on the front of the pulley lines up with a notch on the oil pump body.

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Second, fit the belt to the crank pulley then align up the exhaust cam with the belt via the idler bearing, ensuring that the cam pulley lines up with the timing marks on the pulley and the rear timing cover. I have marked everything with green paint to highlight the points I’m referring to.

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Third, line up the inlet cam with the belt, ensuring that the cam pulley lines up with the timing marks on the pulley and the rear timing cover. Again, I have marked everything with green paint to highlight the points I’m referring to.

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If you need to make any adjustments with the cams, there is a provision for a 25mm spanner to fit onto the cam itself to allow you to move it into position.

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Lastly, slip the belt over the tensioner.

Before we proceed any further, check your work to ensure that all three marks line up precisely, if they don’t start again to get them into position. This is a crucial step so get it right.

Timing Belt Tension

Slip an allen key into the timing belt tensioner. You’ll see the provision for it as shown in the image below. Also, try to get it in about the same position as shown in the image.

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Pull the allen key down to place tension on the belt. Don’t overdo it or else you’ll be placing too much strain on all of the timing gear and stretch your belt. If you don’t place enough tension on the belt, you’ll slip a gear and smash valves through your pistons. Daunting? Get some help if you’re unsure.

Once you have the required tension on the belt, tighten the bolt down and torque to 5kg-m (36.15ftlb, 49Nm). I had to do this while holding the allen key in place.

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Gnhhh, gnhh, yeah baby, oh that's it, uhhhhhh yeah, here comes my O face, oh, oh, oh, oh!

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[2LV8ETR]

Step 19: Timing Covers

Upper Cover

Place the upper timing cover into position and bolt it down. Before you ask, yes, I’m using the RB20 cover for stealth purposes.

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Lower Cover

Test fit the lower timing cover. Just use the top two screws to temporarily hold it in place for now. Here is the gap we have left from the extra height of the RB30 block.

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I measured the gap and it’s 40mm.

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Lower Cover Fill

After a fair bit of thought I decided to tackle the problem using a sheet metal fill. I did a bit of dicking around with cardboard patterns and after some trial and error I came up with a pattern that will suit my needs nicely.

The next step I had to take was to flatten each of the cover ends on both sides. The images below show the before and after shots. Remember to do both sides.

Before:

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After:

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Next, I cut out the sheet metal using a very thin metal cutting disc on my angle grinder. I used this rather than snips to prevent curling of the metal during cutting. Another reason is I had to use the disc to cut a very slight groove into the metal to assist with bending the ends to suit the shape of the cover. Here’s what it looked like after I cut it and filed off the edges.

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I then bent the metal along the grooves to shape.

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I then test fit the piece and massaged a couple of areas until the fit was satisfactory.

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After a bit of spray paint, it looks like this.

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I removed the upper and lower covers, gave them a spray with some new paint, and reassembled the whole thing. I’ve also tapped in a couple of small screws to attach the fill to the lower cover to help keep it in place.

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Digging the wrinkle finish on the top cover....

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Should be enough to fool the cops, don't you think?

Here is an image of the template I used to make the fill piece. You should be able to copy this and fix that problem gap.

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[2LV8ETR]

Step 20: Rear Main Seal

It’s a bit of a tight squeeze, but we need to fit the rear main seal. You can get to it between the gap in the engine stand so give it a go anyway.

Clean the old gasket compound off the body and give it a good degreasing for good measure.

Spray the rear of the crank with CRC or smear a light film of oil onto it to assist with the fitting of the seal.

I’m still using a very light film of gasket compound when I fit the seals, so whether you want to or not is up to you. Fit the seal into the body, lay it flat and tap it into place with a plastic hammer, going around the circumference with each tap.

Place a generous amount of sealing compound (just like we did with the water pump) onto the rear of the body and slip it over the crank.

Bolt it into place and torque it down to 0.73kg-m (5.28ftlb, 7.15Nm).

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[2LV8ETR]

Step 21: Sump

Oil Pickup

The O-ring I got with my gasket set was not up to my standards. It was thin and looked poxy so I replaced with one from my O-ring kit.

Drop the o-ring onto the pickup housing.

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Place the pickup into position and torque down to 1.9kg-m (13.74ftlb, 18.62Nm)

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Sump

Remove all of the old gasket compound from the sump. I used a wire wheel attached to my angle grinder and it cut through it like butter. Degrease and clean the sump thoroughly and allow it to dry out in the sun.

If you want to, do what I did and go a little crazy with the wire wheel. I took the sump down to bare metal and gave it a new spray job.

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Grab the new copper washer and attach it to the sump plug. Remember to remove the old washer first. Fit the plug to the sump and torque the plug down to 3.5kg-m (25.31ftlb, 34.3Nm).

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Apply a generous amount of gasket compound to the sump. Don’t be stingy now, you don’t want oil leaking from here.
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Place the sump onto the block (you will need to rotate the stand) and tighten down all of the bolts. There is no particular sequence but torque them down to 0.73kg-m (5.28ftlb, 7.15Nm)

Hopefully, if you have done this step correctly you will notice a bead of gasket compound that has been “squished” out along the entire edge of the sump to block surface. Leave this alone, it’s not hurting to have it here and you won’t see it anyway.

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Step 22: Exhaust Manifold

Exhaust Manifold

Place the gasket onto the studs, ensure that the metal stripped side is facing towards the block.

Place the manifold onto the studs, apply the washers (fat ones first) & nuts, and torque down to 3kg-m (21.69lb-ft, 29.4Nm)

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Turbo

Drop the copper gasket onto the flange, then position the turbo onto the flange as well and torque down to 3.2kg-m (23.14 lb-ft, 31.36Nm)

You have to be a real dick to fit the turbo in the wrong direction….. Really, you do.

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I’ll be using a stock 20DET turbo for my run in period. After that, I’ll be dropping “The Freak” back on to see how it performs on the 30. If I can’t get what I want out of it, I’ll be sourcing something along the lines of a 3076R.

I also know that I'll be having issues with the connecting the exhaust to the rear of the turbo due to the increased height of the 30 block. I'll address this once the engine is back in and then I can make an assessment as to what I'll do.