Innocenti C Datsun 5 speed install

[abarth69]

Well this is the weekend just going outside to pull the sprite engine to install the Datsun 5 speed. Its 6.am

Cheers

Mark

 

[JPSmit]

sweet! lots of pics! are you home or at the farm?

 

[abarth69]

Breakfast time 9.00 almost ready to come out lots of room

Hardest part getting the hood off

At home JP

 

[drooartz]

Good luck, hope it all go smoothly.

 

[JPSmit]

Dispatch number one. Showed up at Mark's just before noon, engine out, just getting the old transmission off. All went smoothly until it was time for the pilot bearing to be removed - in the absence of the proper tool, we tried everything including heat and grease. No luck. Finally in desperation we turned to youtube where it was explained that bread was the solution. I figured, "of course, you go to the shop, give them some bread and they remove the bearing." But no, apparently you stuff it full of bread, pound in a bolt, remove bolt, repeat until the bearing pops out.

Guess what? Pilot bearing 0 bread 1 - amazing.

the happy owner.



Of course the bearing was toast but that's another matter

 

[abarth69]

Yes the bread trick worked and saved the day. Worked until ten last night and called it a day engine and trans is ready to be installed today should be out for road test later

 

[JPSmit]

woo hoo! no real luck with my seats yesterday - but hopefully this afternoon.

 

[abarth69]

It doesn't fit

There is a about a 2 " x 3" rail under the heat box that is keeping me from bring trans higher at front

 

[Mickey Richaud]

OUCH! Any way you can "massage" the area for clearance? I had to do that with the V6 conversion in the MGB.

Do you have any pictures you can post?

 

[58Custom]

A suggestion:

 

[nomad]

It's a tight fit in a Spridget. The rib on top of the box has to be ground off completely. On my Datsun trans and engine swap I heated the air plenum box and gave it a couple of whacks with a ball peen.

Kurt.

 

[JPSmit]

To follow up on mark's behalf, the suggestion above is exactly what he is going to do tonight. (that is to say have done)

 

[abarth69]

Thanks Jp for all your help on the weekend. Well the box went to machine shop today and I should get it back Tuesday night Steve the owner is a car guy looked at me and said I guess you want it back tomorrow . The frame rail I missed in my planning for the swap its tucked back I was not about to cut the car up.

Gerard helped out and gave a pattern to follow so we should be back in install mode Tuesday night.

Just noticed the writing on heater box as I blew the image up.

 

[JPSmit]

Just wanted to update (on Mark's behalf) and as a question of 5 speed owners.

The transmission & engine are in, mated and everything is clear - however, if you look down at the shifter from inside the car, it is not centred, rather it is noticeably closer to the drivers side. Is it supposed to be centred? anyone else have this issue? we have a solution to centre it better, but, if this isn't correct, the drive shaft won't be properly aligned.

thanks all!
JP

 

[drooartz]

For Spridgets, Gerard offers a cut/reweld for the shifter so it sits better in the car. I had mine done, though I'm not near it at the moment to get a picture.

 

[Rut]

This is what they look like cut and welded. I understand that it's always better to modify your shift lever after the transmission install to get it centered.
Rut

 

[Gerard]

Just wanted to update (on Mark's behalf) and as a question of 5 speed owners.

The transmission & engine are in, mated and everything is clear - however, if you look down at the shifter from inside the car, it is not centred, rather it is noticeably closer to the drivers side. Is it supposed to be centred? anyone else have this issue? we have a solution to centre it better, but, if this isn't correct, the drive shaft won't be properly aligned.

thanks all!
JP

They are never centered. Doing so will put the engine/driveshaft off axis. The solution is the modified shifter so the shifter comes out as near the center as possible. Heating and recurving it is an option, but since the shifter is about 3 inches longer than the original Spridget, it's easier to cut and weld it to obtain the correct length.

 

[abarth69]

My problems that are stopping me from finishing the job

Slave touches frame rail.

Gearshift is set to one side


Ideas

Mark

 

[Billm]

You need for the trans to be offset to the driver's side for the speedometer cable (or angle drive box) to have room to exit the transmission.
BillM

 

[Gerard]

It really has nothing to do with the speedometer cable hookup.

While the shifter position is in line with the output shaft on the 5 speed, on the original BMC gearbox, it is not. On the BMC gearbox, the shifter centerline is offset nearly an inch to the right, and the tunnel sheet metal and opening are formed to accommodate the same. With the original gearbox in place, the output shaft is actually offset to the left of the shifter opening. Therefore, in order for the output shaft/driveshaft to be centered, the 5 speed shifter location ends up appearing to be off center (to the left) in the shifter opening.