The Nissan power plant and Tremec gearbox are now on the ticked part of the list.
Work on the Skyline has been very slow, thanks to a number of factors and this summers heat. I have however been on a constant lookout for a engine, a task harder than it seems.
The TB engine is very pricey, and rare to find, however they do popup. With that said im a patient buyer, its rare that I jump into a purchase without many a thought.
Finally one came up locally, and as a result it now resides on the engine stand, ready to start ploughing its way through the Skylines firewall and into a position much better suited to the cars balance.
The one thing that needs to be said is that its not a engine, its a power plant. When i think of the word plant in a industrial sense, I think of huge piping, cooling towers, generators, people being told by the safety crew
"Anything here can kill you" ... and this is just that. The motor is only 95mm longer and 40mm taller than a RB26DETT but it looks like a main sail on a yacht when on the engine stand. Perhaps its the perception, that the CA18DET was on that engine stand till then.
To make it somewhat realistic to work on I cut the vertical beam on the engine stand down by 220mm, notched it and welded back the top pivot tube and added a few gussets for some strength. So now were at the point of clean and prep, as it starts to make its way into the firewall.
The final gearbox selection came to the legendary Tremec T-56 Magnum, a box that managed to tick more boxes than anything else. I had a number of other big name brands on thought, but some didnt have a strong aftermarket, some were too pricey, wrong ratios, weaker gearsets, not enough gears, incorrect shifter location and so on.
Well fact is that I think this will be a incredible box, and best part is that its brand new, not something that was already behind a 2JZ-GTE with a T-88 strapped to it for a number of seasons. A few modifications and we shall see if it was the correct choice, of what im confident.
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This evening was a huge win for the test fit, as this was really the only part I was till this point dreading. 
This afternoon was a quick in and out job to give me access into the engine bay, and to also prepare it to be tube framed from the front of the struts, so off came the front end. 
The Nissan power plant and Tremec gearbox are now on the ticked part of the list. 
The one thing that needs to be said is that its not a engine, its a power plant. When i think of the word plant in a industrial sense, I think of huge piping, cooling towers, generators, people being told by the safety crew "Anything here can kill you" ... and this is just that. The motor is only 95mm longer and 40mm taller than a RB26DETT but it looks like a main sail on a yacht when on the engine stand. Perhaps its the perception, that the CA18DET was on that engine stand till then.
The final gearbox selection came to the legendary Tremec T-56 Magnum, a box that managed to tick more boxes than anything else. I had a number of other big name brands on thought, but some didnt have a strong aftermarket, some were too pricey, wrong ratios, weaker gearsets, not enough gears, incorrect shifter location and so on.
Well fact is that I think this will be a incredible box, and best part is that its brand new, not something that was already behind a 2JZ-GTE with a T-88 strapped to it for a number of seasons. A few modifications and we shall see if it was the correct choice, of what im confident.