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eBay adaptor for 5-speed

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regularman said:
I used the original starter. I guess there are all kinds of kits out there. I did what was the cheapest.
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Homebrewer and a penny pincher - I like your style!

So, is there a good place just to pick up the adapter? Are all created more or less equal, or are there real differences?

(or, cough cough, perhaps I could get you a piece of aluminum and for a few bucks you can trace it for me) /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
 
If you don't want to trim the trans housing for clearance you can buy a gear reduction starter. I think I recall they wanted me to take a 3" hole saw to it.
 
I don't use the Rivergate conversion- I did my own. The Rivergate uses the Spridget ringgear and starter- I use the Datsun ringgear and starter and then don't have to punch big holes in the trans. I also use the Datsun slave because it fits easily.
Bill
 
Branson said:
Kim,

what did it take to be able to reuse the datsun clutch?
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I wish I had took pictures. I chucked up the flywheel and trimmed down the face edge a bit so the that I could drill and tap new holes for the datsun pressure plate. The way it was the holes lined up right where the face dropped off. I made a spacer to hold the pressure plate back up to the level of the clutch face. Then I balanced it all just to make sure. If this doesn't make sense then pm me and maybe we can talk on the phone or something. Yeah I made a line up device and cut a hole for the starter to stick through the transmission, then made an aluminum cover to cover the hole with the starter and drilled and tapped a couple holes and bolted it on. Oh, and I used the slave for a 1986 datsun truck, use a couple 3/8 nuts to space it out so it don't hit and it bolts right up.
 
Billm said:
I don't use the Rivergate conversion- I did my own. The Rivergate uses the Spridget ringgear and starter- I use the Datsun ringgear and starter and then don't have to punch big holes in the trans. I also use the Datsun slave because it fits easily.
Bill
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So you adapted the datson flywheel to the spridget engine. I never thought of that.
 
Well, let me tell you. I started looking about 6 years ago and found the rivergate one that I have now on ebay and another one that I bought from a guy in california. I was looking for just a transmission and had not had time to go junk yarding. I found a deal on Ebay, I got the transmission, another adapter plate, two dastun yokes, and the shifter all in one box for $500. I played around with both adapters and decided to go with the one that came with the transmission thinking that it would cause less hitting on the heater duct underneath, but it really didin't. I think they are about the same. Really, both adapters are made out of thick aluminum and are some quality work. It would take quite a while to make one like it. Neither of mine had the rear engine seal, but I don't really care if a spridget drips where it is supposed to. supposedly I can do this seal later if I ever pull the motor for some reason.
 
NO- I use the Spridget flywheel and adapt it for the Datsun ringgear and clutch and pressure plate (same method you did for that).

--EDIT--
My kit will NOT work with a Spridget nor an Isuzu starter- the starter motor placement is wrong, only works with the Datsun starter.

Bill
 
I think I am going to hang on to my adapter plate for now. I still have a datsun yoke and will stay on the lookout for another 5 speed and might do another spridget sometime. I would be glad to help anybody who needs it. The Brits did the 5 speed out of a ford sierra or something but they had to cut into the driveline tunnel and I didn't care for that because it part of the frame.
 
Has anybody got any info on the speed of the speedometer output on the datsun 5 speed transmission and how to determine what ratio the speed of the cable needs to be to work right with the spriget speedometer? I figure to be right I will have to measure one revolution of the rear tire runout on the ground and then the gear ratio of the differential.
 
On my '69 Sprite with 3.90 gears and the 5-speed my speedo reads .85 of true speed so I (you) would need a 1:1.17 gearbox to make it accurate- I just estimate my true speed and don't worry about it.
Bill
 
On this subject...I know rivergate sells the right angle "calibrator" or whatever it's called to correct the speedo. I also know it's about $125. Is this a universal part, I.E. could be found anywhere, or is this a specialty deal?
 
I have looked several places for a corrector and $125 is a pretty good price, the best that I had seen was $156 from a speedo shop. This is the right-angle adaptor for the Datsun 210.
Bill
 
The other way is to calibrate the speedo. I have thought about doing this. Use a GPS (they are real accurate) and find out what rpm 60mph is at and hold the stem on the speedo and move the dial so it reads right at 60. You would have to jack the car up and take a wheel off to do this and might require some trial and error. I changed my differential gear to a 3.55:1 ratio. To be precise its 3.454:1 Has 39 teeth on the ring and 11 teeth on the pinion. I wonder how far off it would be to start with? I need to research some datsun 210 stuff and see what the diff gear was and the original tire size.
 
My speedo was off, and I used a similar technique to recalibrate. Using my hiker's GPS, I found out what my speedo read at 65 mph. Then, I removed the speedo, removed the back cover. Turned the drag cup until the speedo read what it did when I was going 65. With one hand I held the drag cup in place while with the other I gently turned the needle back to 65.

My speedo is now accurate around 65, but a bit off at lower speeds.
 
That is what I am talking about Morris, it should be close enough to right for most people. The no ratio box would be required. Has anybody managed to adapt the cables to work and get it to screw up to the datsun tran?
 
It'd be close, but not quite, correct? Since we'd be dealing with a ratio, or a percentage, the entire sweep should change to truly be dialed in with the stock speedo/cable into a datsun trans.

I suppose you're right though, most of us cruise at 45 or 60, so if it's set properly in that range, you wouldn't have much to worry about.

Yeha, makes sense. Sorry, working on statisics here at the office and my brain is kinda fried. Jumped on here for a distraction/break.
 
I like the most simple process if it works good. Hey, there is a lot of the 5 speed info on the minmania web site. Just search 5 speed and they have the spridget conversion listed. They are proud of their stuff, but show how the hydraulics can be bought fairly cheap. Oh, yeah. I was just looking through some of my paperwork. The adapter plate that I installed and got from california was by a guy named paul something or other and ran a morris motors shop out west, but I have never found a website for it. The rivergate one that I have extra was from a dude that decided he wanted to upgrade before he put in his kit to the new one with the rear main seal. later rivergate said that this one could be sent back and modified for 40 bucks and another 100 for the seal, might be more now but I wasn't going to pay another 140 plus shipping to worry about a drop or two of oil.
 
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