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Rebuild 5-Speed Datsun Transmission

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jhorton3

jhorton3

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The time has come where I'll need to pull the 5 speed Datsun transmission for a rebuild. Syncros and bearings I'm sure will need to be replaced, but not sure what else. Would I be better off rebuilding it myself, letting a local transmission shop rebuild it, or send it to one of the conversion specialists for a rebuild?
 
Not knowlegeable on this but all ears on what you find out, Jim!


Kurt.
 
I'm in south central Va.and have a complete 1983 datsun 280zx turbo for sale.Runs great,stops,steers and shifts great.5 speed with new fuel pump,master and slave clutch cylinders.The whole thing can be yours for $1800.00 or swap for a running 6 cylinder Daimler DB18 engine.Might be the way to go for you.Good rubber and good glass Pretty rare.
Pops 434 315-1205
 
How does a new car help him? The trans in a 280ZX is very different from that in a 1970's 210.....

I took mine to my local trans shop for a total rebuild before I installed it, cost me all of $300.
 
You don't say why you think yours needs rebuilding, so I'll just make some general comments.

I wouldn't say there is any reason to "routinely" rebuild the Datsun gearbox unless it's acting up or sounds bad. The things to inspect are mainly the ball bearings, synchro tolerances and end play (thrust washers) It's known that there are some inferior synchros offered, but I don't know the source. If you end up with a set of those, you'll be worse off than your old ones. The only bad ones I have encountered are ones that were rebuilt by someone else, including "professionally"

One issue is with ball bearings You want to check the bearing cage as they sometimes disintegrate and only the balls and races will remain. I have seen 3 or 4 that way. Ball bearings are available from the Nissan dealer, but they are expensive. The last set of 4 I purchased was about $250. Most parts are not available through Nissan (synchros, of all things, are not) and depending on who you talk to, some counter guys will not even bother to look up parts for something that old.
 
Two reasons for the rebuild. First is syncros worn, causing 2nd and 3rd to crash. Other is a squealing noise during take-off from stop, or downshifting from 5th to 4th, which I assume is bearing related.
 
jhorton3 said:
Two reasons for the rebuild. First is syncros worn, causing 2nd and 3rd to crash. Other is a squealing noise during take-off from stop, or downshifting from 5th to 4th, which I assume is bearing related.
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The squealing noise is most likely your throw-out bearing.
 
You should be able to get ball bearings from a good bearing supply house - measure them (ID, OD, thickness), with those dimensions plus the numbers you'll see stamped on the side of the bearing races (and perhaps the manufacturer's name) you should be able to match them up. I found trans disassembly-assembly instructions for the "Ferrari pattern" Datsun trans I put in my BE on the net, it was a piece of cake - but back in my younger days, when I wrenched for a living, I rebuilt many a BMW ZF trans, quite a few spridget units, and for a while even rebuilt Hydramatics when I found a P/T job in a tranny shop when I was in grad school.
 
jhorton3 said:
Are there any special tools needed for a rebuild?
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VISA card?
grin.gif
 
Let me know how this goes. I think the input bearing in one of my transmission needs to be replaced. It is very noisy.
 
Trevor Jessie said:
Let me know how this goes. I think the input bearing in one of my transmission needs to be replaced. It is very noisy.
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Trevor,

That's about the easiest repair you could make on this gearbox, but you will need to split the case to do it. That means removing both halves. You'll need a long jawed gear puller to remove the bearing or alternately removing the 1st motion shaft and tapping it out while sitting in a good sized vise.
 
jhorton3 said:
Are there any special tools needed for a rebuild?
Click to expand...

You'll need a good sized vise to hold/support the entire internal assembly, a good pair of snap ring pliers, long jawed gear pullers, set of drifts and small drifts to remove roll pins, calipers, feeler gauges, torque wrench and metric sockets and wrenches... oh... and a good memory... :confuse:
 
How about adding a long clean workbench and clean surrounding floor so that you can find lost bits? ( I'm talking general trans rebuild, never done the datsun 5sp specifically.)

Kurt.
 
nomad said:
How about adding a long clean workbench and clean surrounding floor so that you can find lost bits? ( I'm talking general trans rebuild, never done the datsun 5sp specifically.)

Kurt.
Click to expand...

+1

When I was a little boy I loved building and painting plastic model kits. It was the 70's so there was deep pile green shag carpet in my room. I don't know how many landing gear pieces or machine guns that got lost in that carpet, or how much time I spent looking for pieces..
 
If you’re interested, I can provide you a complete bearing, seal, synchronizer kit for $175.00 plus shipping. I rebuilt mine with the same kit, all Japanese bearings...
 
popsdaimler said:
Didn't see where it mentioned being a 210
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If you pull it and will ship I'm interested. (Other cars!)


Kurt.
 
popsdaimler said:
Didn't see where it mentioned being a 210
Click to expand...

The '70's 210 trans is the only Datsun one that fits a Spridget for which there is a conversion kit on the market, Rivergate and others..... I thought that since you were posting on a Spridget forum you knew that, sorry. My bad.
 
I've been thinking about this quite a bit, and I've decided I'm going to farm out the rebuild work. There's too high of a risk of loosing parts in my basement once it's disassembled.
 
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