Yeah, RB20E for the NZ spec Commodore VL 2.0 Litre.The L24, and RB25 were used in some Laurel imports. Import Skylines were either Aussie made, or Japan imports...the GTS Skylines we have here are gutless but are silk smooth, and rev like a ricer. One guy here has a street registered RB25 which does low 11 sec quarters with a turbo, though.
Holden and Nissan did a classic back scratch. The Pulsar and Astra got an Aussie made Family II 1.6 or 1.8 EI, then Nissan imported the RB20E, RB30E, and RB30ET to Australia from Japan for the locally made Skylines and Commodores. The RB30ET Turbo was done especially for the Commodore, Nissan never used it at all. The Jap import RB-series DOHC engines are the same under the head, but they never got over 2.6 litres in the Japan.
The financial crunch of 1987 put paid to the import of these engines...Holden has used Buick and Chevy engines since that point, as the US dollar is stable.
The only stuff up is the odd striped intake or exhast manifold stud, or the nasty cracking of the alloy head, caused by the VL Holden radiator baffle cracking, and blocking flow to the head. The Sammut Bros used these RB30E engines with twin turbos, and got 630 hp without a blink, and ran them to 10070 rpm, with up to 9000 rpm used regularly. There little Torana took out the Aussie drags in the early 1990's.
The strenght comes all because of the deap skirt design, and main bearing girdle. The engine was made as the LD 24and 28 and RD28 diesels, so they are ultra strong...and as heavy as the much taller 200/250 alloy headed cross-flow Falcon I6. All the weight was in the block.
But I'm a Ford man. If you want to make some mark-up, the Nissan engines are good prospects. They are much cheaper to get in NZ and Aussie.