Hey guys, I am looking to replace my 200sx tranny after its second rebuild. The 5-speed dogleg tranny's aren't the strongest thing in the world. I keep busting 2nd and 3rd.

Anyway, I am looking for a tranny that doesn't require me to cut a larger hole in my floor. I am also tired of the 1-2 shift with the dogleg tranny. I have heard that some truck 5-speeds have short tailshafts and will bolt up without angling toward the passenger side of the car. Can anyone confirm this?

I can nail 280zx tranny's all day, but would prefer not having to cut up more of my car.

 

Any help is thanked in advance.

I'd like to have that 1-2 shift--- just to have something different...

guess it gets old after a while? only other type of vehicle I've seen that has a pattern like that was a maserati--- the owner told me its because of autocross racing--- you use 2,3,4, and 5--- never 1-- so they put those gears in the "H"

Well, a 1980 tranny will be a L20B pattern and angle. A later truck uses a Z-series engine with the opposite angle offset. Can't switch the bell housing- it's one part with the gearbox case.

As for the length, my info says the extension housing isn't the type that you could put a driveshaft in. And the 4X4 tranny doesn't have a speedometer drive gear.

The only transmission that has a fairly short shifter location OTHER than the original 4-speed (F4W63) or the Dogleg (FS5W63) is the Nissan competition gearbox. I was told it is shorter than the Z/truck 5-speed transmission (FS5W71C) and was stock equipment in the 2000 Roadster. But all my books say the roadster had the FS5W71A tranny which is just as long as the later Z one. Maybe the shifter is in a different location but I doubt it. I also was told the comp gearbox was a FC5W65 or something close with a removeable bell. But never seen it in print.

I looked at the exploded view drawings of the truck 4WD transmissions and found this out:

Early 4WD 5-speeds are identical to the 2WD. They use a remote T-case with a short stub shaft between them, and the only difference is the 4WD tranny doesn't have a speedometer drive gear. Later ones have the T-case bolted to a completely different extension housing. That uses direct shaft coupling so there's no place to put a driveshaft.

Thanks for the help.

Where are you located? I am in Hanford, Ca. 93230 (near Fresno).

I would be happy to trade something I might need that you might have. That way no money really has to change hands (except maybe shipping costs).

From the looks of it, I might be going with the 280zx tranny afterall. Is it true that the non-turbo units have a higher (lower number) overdrive gear? I would prefer to lower my freeway RPM and I heard the non-turbo models had lower rear gears to makeup for not having a turbo, then the overdrive was deeper to keep the RPM down for freeway driving.

Is any of this true? Thanks again.

Yeah, earwig, but that's in a truck! Which used the same tranny model (albiet a 5-speed) to begin with. Or close- is yours the kind that uses a stub shaft between the tranny and transfer case, or the kind where the Xfer case bolts to the end of the tranny?

Cable, I'm up in Tacoma, WA so that probably wouldn't work.

From my info, the turbo has a higher OD than the Non-turbo 'cause it has more power. The turbo 5-speed is a different gearbox, too- a REAL long Borg-Warner T-5 tranny. I have one, was gonna put it in my 4-speed Z but I haven't bought a driveshaft spline sleeve for it (different ouitput shaft on the T-5 vs a Nissan unit).

Comp trannys are the same length as all the other Z boxes. They just have the older monkey motion linkage and the three piece cases like the roadster units or the very early Z's.

Randy

Gee, Randy, and it's a certain Roadster racer we both know that told me the Comp units were shorter than the Standard Z tranny. He showed me the 3-piece case, I couldn't tell if it was longer or shorter than my Z one. Other than the removeable bell and a flanged output shaft, looked near identical to me Z 5-speed. Oh, yeah, had a shifter linkage that looked like the one off a BW T-5 but smaller.

I do know the number on the Nissan units is the length in centimeters, the early Z and late Roadster ones (in my book) say they're 71cm. Same as late Z/early ZX/Trucks after '74. 510, 610, 710, early 200SX, late 510, 63cm. 1200/B210/210 56cm. All Automatics except the early 510 BW units, 71cm. This all bears out- I've had a Z 5-speed, a B210 5-speed, an A10 Automatic, and 2 truck 4-speeds all piled next to each other and the difference was obvious.

But he claimed the Comp box was a 65cm unit. Never heard of or seen such.