The stronger one, 4- or 5-speed?

[jonbill]

I paid £50 for mine in the UK. And then $200 or so for a set of synchros and bearings to rebuild it.

 

And then another £75 I think to get the Z bell housing, gearbox mount and propshaft modified.

 

[Suomizeta]

50pounds=56euros? You mean 500pounds? Japan imports (in Finland) wants 450e for the one they maybe have...

Edited September 15, 2019 by Suomizeta

[jonbill]

50pounds=56euros? You mean 500pounds? Japan imports (in Finland) wants 450e for the one they maybe have...

Yes, €56. It was about 3 years ago and had some worn bearings and synchros and is the less popular s13 variant. S14 is stronger.

On ebay here they don't come up as much as they used to, but when they do "buy it now" is often £300 - £500 for "known good" but "unknown", or "worn" condition auctions still sell from £50 for s13 boxes. They are quite a faff to rebuild and are also upto 30 yrs old so strong money for those promised to be good but bargains can be had for those that have to be rebuilt.

 

[jonbill]

€450 for a good one with a warranty is probably a decent deal all in all.

[dutchzcarguy]

In Europe.. these days it's more like 1500 euro for a garanteed good 5 speed.... who is selling them for 450 pounds or euro?  I've seen none lately.  Prices have exploded...

The only one i see here in the Netherlands is a 5 speed from Greece for 750 euro? no warranty and shipping is an awful lot of money i guess??   It's a good but used one.. yeah right...

[dutchzcarguy]

2 hours ago, Suomizeta said:

Japan imports (in Finland) wants 450e for the one they maybe have...

Don't think they got that one for that price, and with warranty.  I hope for you they do ..  let us know!

[Suomizeta]

I'll call them tomorrow. These I see in their pages:

Ca18det 460e

Sr20det 680e

I know nothing yet about their condition or warranties. 

Any tips for checking/guessing the condition? 

  

 

 

[jonbill]

I'll call them tomorrow. These I see in their pages:
Ca18det 460e
Sr20det 680e
I know nothing yet about their condition or warranties. 
Any tips for checking/guessing the condition? 
  
 
 

Turn the input shaft and if it feels notchy or gritty, it's definitely worn. If it doesn't it might be OK. Make sure you can select all gears. Not sure what else you can do.

[Zed Head]

 

On 9/12/2019 at 12:28 PM, Suomizeta said:

I broke my gearbox, 5-speed. Lots of used 4-spd for sale around here, (northern Europe) but very few 5-spds. My 240z has an L28et engine, so the transmission should be BW T5 like in 280zx turbo.. But we don't have many of  those here...

The question is: is there a difference in the strenght between Datsun original 4- and 5-speed transmissions?

I screwed up when I said that you could do the 71C swap with your old 5 speed bellhousing/case, if it is the BW 5 speed.  But, the odds are that it's not the BW 5 speed, since it's much easier to use a 71B 5 speed.  The BW needs new mounts and propeller shaft.  People usually leave the BW behind and just use the engine.

Sorry for the diversion.  What you really need to do first of all is find out which 5 speed you have.  If you have the BW it will take a few more parts to get a 71B or 71C in to your car.  Might as well be ready to buy them if you find them.

[Suomizeta]

Sorry I wasn't very clear. My broken tranny is from some 240z or 260z. They never imported 280zxt here, so I think the number of Datsun BW-trannies in Finland is close to zero.

[Zed Head]

My mistake.  I think that I actually understood what you were saying the first time I read it.  Then misunderstood the second time.

You might consider just getting another third gear and rebuilding what you have.  Cheaper shipping and easier to find.  Third gear from a 4 speed might work.  Apparently the parts are pretty durable, they will suffer quite a bit of scrap metal floating around in there.

You'll need to know exactly what type of 5 speed that you have though.  In the States we didn't get 5 speeds until the 1977 280Z.  I think that the early non-US market 5 speeds are different than those.  I think that they are 71A 5 speeds, not 71B 5 speeds.  So the 71C swap option might not be possible if it's a 71A style 5 speed..

What kind of shifter does it use, and what type of output shaft?  Slip yoke or bolt-on?  A picture would be good.  Eurodat probably knows the market over there and what you might have,  @EuroDat

 

 

[EuroDat]

If I were you I would search for a Z31 300ZX Non turbo transmission or if you are lucky a S13/14 transmission. That is the FS5W71C with the 16mm gear and no synchro on the reveese gear. It is becoming more difficult to find in Europe these days.

The 71C does have a better shifter mech. Specially with a B&M short through shifter

Is it stronger than the FS5W71B? Not much. It does have the heavier bearing on the front of the cluster shaft, but the rest in priciple is similar strength wise. It should be strong enough for the power and torque of the 280ZX turbo engine.