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Switching from Automatic to Standard


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I would like to get the feedback of the members of this forum about switching transmissions. The switch would be from an automatic transmission to a 4 speed standard.

 

What are the advantages, disadvantages, things to consider, things I need to take into consideration.

 

How hard is to change the transmission? Are they any things I need to look for?

 

 

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it depends on what car really. some trannys drop right in and some require shoe horning the tunnel or modifying the crossmember.

 

Things for sure you'd have to consider is tranny length, as some tranny's can be longer or shorter than the original and therefore increase or decrease needed drive shaft length. the shifter placement could also be problematic, you may need to cut a hole in your tranny tunnel to accommodate for it

 

You'll also need hydraulic lines running from the master to the slave. you need: clutch pedal, master cylinder... etc, all can be salvaged from a standard vehicle if swapping to a same model car.

 

Also im not sure, but spline count may/may not be a issue... i'm not sure...

 

EDIT: you posted in the B210 section... DUH... sorry im not sure on tranny fitment but the rest still applies

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I would like to get the feedback of the members of this forum about switching transmissions. The switch would be from an automatic transmission to a 4 speed standard.

 

What are the advantages, disadvantages, things to consider, things I need to take into consideration.

 

How hard is to change the transmission? Are they any things I need to look for?

 

 

 

huh.gif well advantages and disadvantages are purely subjective. I love manual transmissions because it feels more of an experience, while others might hate std trans for the fact they drive in stop-go traffic up hills both ways to/from work.

 

how hard is it to swap? well the actual trans units swap pretty easily (it you have a few jacks/jackstands/friends) but then you have to remember swaping the reverse light switch, you have to have either new/matched/machined flywheel/clutch plate, mount a pedal for the clutch, connect the clutch pedal to the throw out bearing assy, and some time to test/fix if needed...... also depends on the trans tails (4x4, short tail, long tail) because then you might have to swap the driveshaft aswell...

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Thanks so far for the feedback.

The swap is on a B210.

I have two 1978 B210's

The one with the automatic transmission as a much better body shape than the standard.

So im guessing that the size should be the same.

 

blink.gifoh well shit.... your golden.... you might still need some cunning to do it, mabey cut a hole or two (doubtful).... but yeah everything should swap over pretty easily and if you know what your doing it should take less then 2days unless there is some unforeseen issue

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Thanks so far for the feedback.

The swap is on a B210.

I have two 1978 B210's

The one with the automatic transmission as a much better body shape than the standard.

So im guessing that the size should be the same.

 

The automatic itself is larg-ish, certainly bulkier than the 4 speed so inspect the tunnel shape and be sure the auto will fit where the standard used to be.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The swap is not easy. It's moderately difficult. The biggest problem is getting all the parts, but you already have them.

 

If you have ever succesfully changed a clutch, you can do this swap.

Agreeeee. My datsun it stranded halfway through because of mismatched parts and is still off the road today. Since you have it all in one place it shouldn't been too complicated but sourcing everything and getting it to work has been a nightmare for me. I personally wouldn't recommend it until the auto shits the bed and you have no other choice

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  • 1 year later...

So I decided to leave my 4 speed manual alone and instead I am turning my automatic in to a 5 speed manual.

After some research this is the list of items I came up with that I need to do the swap.

 

5 Speed transmission – FS5W63A (Got it)

Clutch master cylinder (Got it - New)

Clutch slave (Got it - New)

Hydraulic hard-line (Need)

Dust boot (Got it)

Clutch arm (Got it)

Pedal (Got it)

Driveshaft (Need)

Release bearing collar (Need)

Manual flywheel (Need)

Pilot bushing (Need)

Clutch and Pressure Plate (Need)

 

Is there any other parts that I need?

Any feedback on where to get the ones I am still missing?

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Hydraulic hard-line (Need) Measure from master to near slave with a piece of string, Use the 4 speed car. Get a pre made hydraulic brake line same length or next over size and bend it yourself. You also need a length of hydraulic flex line from the hard line to the slave. Use a front wheel flex line.

Pedal (Got it) You really need a brake pedal too. the auto is too wide. Maybe cut it down to size?


Driveshaft (Need) I wish ggzilla were here. Look into a B-210 automatic drive shaft for correct fit.


Release bearing collar (Need) #30501-H1000 about $20 at Nissan


Manual flywheel (Need) #12310-H7200 about ($270 forget that) get from another member or wrecking yard.


Pilot bushing (Need) NAPA about $3


Clutch and Pressure Plate (Need) clutch disc #30100-H5200 about $50. PP #30210-N1600 about $100 all at Dealer or use numbers to cross reference at NAPA

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Hydraulic hard-line (Need) Use the 4 speed car. Get a pre made hydraulic brake line same length or next over size and bend it yourself.

 

 

Only problem with this is,  the slave cyl on the 63A is on the opposite side of the trans. 

 

I hope you got the slave for the 63A and not the 4 spd. the bleeder valve will be on the bottom if you did not.

 

And the auto drive shaft will work in the 63A

 

Just a heads up.

 

- Mike

 

P.S. if ya know what you are doing...its Cake

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Thanks datzenmike and B210GX that was very useful information.
Anything else you guys can think off that I am missing in order to have a successful swap?
BTW in regards to my experience doing this. I change an automatic transmission in the past to a 85 Sentra.
Will see how this goes.

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Save the auto crossmember, it can be reused with a couple of holes added for the 63a, the driveshaft will also work.  I used a Z car slave for mine (240Z?), it was cheap at O'Reilly and was on the shelf, seems to work okay.  All of the clutch lines and brake lines are interchangeable. You can use a brake hardline rebent and a 280zx soft brake line to the clutch (same as clutch line but only ~9$ not ~20$). Your clutch kit should have the pilot bearing, it is the same as any A series one though.  Be sure to get the clutch kit for this specific transmission though, different number of teeth on the spline (same as L series) from other A series stuff, disk is the same size as the A series with the spline of an L series. Oh, and do not buy the New Generation clutch off Amazon, it's cheap but you really get what you pay for here.

 

I did my original auto-4 speed swap back in '99 took a few days of figuring it all out but it is pretty much bolt in type stuff, I then moved on to a 63a 5 speed myself in '11. So I've done this exact swap on a B210, just not all at once :P

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You can buy pre made lengths of brake line with the correct thread pitch and flair ends. 4-5 feet will be $3-4$ dollars. Just think ahead and bend around a baseball bat.

 

Great idea. And i can use the bat to release my frustration upon something.

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Thanks again for all the feedback. Here is an update:

 

There is a 1977 B210 hatchback in Ontario, CA that I buddy of mine is going to check out today and see if he can get me some of the parts I need like the:

 

Brake-line (hard-line) and hydraulic hard-line with all the necessary harness. If for some reason my buddy can’t find them I will take the advice of Dguy210, datzenmike, and PineClone and make my own using brake-lines and buy the hydraulic line from rockauto.

 

The brake pedal since the one I currently have is way too big. Thanks to datzenmike for pointed that out.

 

Slave cylinder: I believe I got the right one. Brand: Culitee. It was advertise as NIS/INF B210 77-78 [5 speed] (55-76-090)

 

In regards to the Clutch kit: Is there a different between the kits for the 4-speed and 5-speed? If so what is the difference? Is it the number of splines? Rockauto has 6-7 different kinds of clutch kids but none of them specify that are for a 5 speed. @datzenmike the parts numbers you give me are for the 5 speed, right? So if I can’t find them at the Nissan dealer I can get NAP to c

ross reference them?

 

@ Davec, what would be the reason of by-passing the neutral safety switch?

 

Finally: For all of you that may use this thread for future swaps. The base that house the pedals in the automatic does not come with the extra box to install the clutch. You need to also replace the entire base in order to have all the necessary boxes for each pedal.

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