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Now if only the rest of us were able to contribute 1/100th of what you do for the Datsun community.

 

Or is it just me that's the supreme slacker?

:P

 

Anyways, congrats.

I will definatly need to get a copy of that.

 

Your 15 minutes as King Rat just never seem to end, so they?

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Already some of the info is dated as I continue to learn more about this subject. It started several years ago when I read an article about the dogleg and zx transmissions being put into the 510 and there were a few mistakes. So I wrote Julian and told him that such a publication shouldn't have such poor outdated (2002) info in it and he said "If you think you can do better, why don't you write something to correct it". So I spend at least 15 hours over the next three months honing a story with pictures, checking and re-checking, revising until I was burnt out. Left it for two months and went back in the spring a year ago and finally finished it. Add at least another 10 hours. Between then and the end of last summer new info or corrections had to be added but eventually you just have to run with what you got. It was an interesting experience and I would not want to be an editor, ever. Surprisingly, I don't think one word was changed even though I'm a firm believer that you should never use 50 words when you could use 500 .

 

Here's the start:

 

TRANSMISSION IDENTIFICATION: (with the 510 in mind)

 

 

 

 

With a car that's up to 40 years old, there's a good chance that many of it's drive train components have worn out or broken and been replaced. It's safe to say that many 510 owners feel they can take something that is great and make it even better. Thus, the car you have now may have had over a half dozen owners all who have added and subtracted parts to increase their driving pleasure. Make that, performance driving pleasure. Stock engine performance can easily be increased or the engine can be swapped from a bewildering array of domestic and foreign power plants. This will seriously tax the ability of the stock transmission to handle so much power and torque and with some motor transplants the stock tranny has to be changed anyway because it simply does not fit the new motor. There are at least four different style 5spds that will fit, or can be made to fit the L series motor. Naturally they won't all 'drop in' and some modification of the tranny mount position to shortening the driveshaft to widening the tranny tunnel may be needed. This isn't a how to install a transmission, but more of a how to identify the transmission in your car, (stock or otherwise) or, identify a replacement upgrade.

 

 

Lets look at some of the standard trannys that could be in your 510 and why. If you are thinking of up-grading to a 5spd or something stronger it sure would be handy to know how to identify what you have, and what you come across for sale on E bay or in a junk yard. Often it happens that a tranny is miss named in an ad, or the owner simply does not know what it is he is selling. It would be nice to be able to know what it came out of or it's approximate age. Can you tell at a glance if the tranny for sale is actually from a 280zx and has the super high over drive 5th gear that you are looking for, or, is it simply an earlier wide ratio 280z or 620 5spd? I'll show you how, and how to quickly identify a dogleg, tell a NAPS Z series tranny from an L series, a 4spd from a 5spd. and some of the strengths and weaknesses of each.

 

Before journeying to a destination it helps to know your starting point. Lets look at the stock standard transmissions in the North American PL/WPL510. The following information is from first hand personal observations coupled with research from Factory Service Manuals and Nissan Parts manuals and is not intended to be thought of as complete. While everything has been done to be as accurate as possible, it must be understood that there are always exceptions and last minute changes that may have gone unrecorded. Some pictures are mine, some given to me and many just collected. If you see one of yours, thank you. If you have any information or corrections you wish to share, e-mail me at: datzenmike@hotmail.com

 

 

 

 

STANDARD TRANSMISSIONS

 

F4W63 4 speed.

 

transshortF4W634spd.jpg

 

By far the most common and easily recognized transmission in the 510. The F4W63 is of two piece all aluminum construction with the gears and bell housing in one section and a removable tail stock bolted to it. The 'bell' has several longitudinal casting webs and the main body is heavily ribbed and resembles a waffle. The gears are accessed by a removable bottom pan with drain plug. The oil fill plug is about half way up the left (driver's) side while the speedometer drive is on the left side tail stock. (the only L series 4spd. to do so) It uses internal shift linkages coupled to an external 'A' type shifter above the output spline. The 'A' shifter is also known as the 'monkey motion shifter', a name that is well earned even when the rubber shift bushings aren't worn out. It is approximately 26.3" long for use in the 510 but also is produced in 31.5" length with a 5.25" longer tail stock for use in other Datsun cars. The distance between the internal main shaft and counter shaft center lines is 63mm which dictates the maximum gear and bearing diameter that will fit between them and this in turn also limits the power they can handle. Under load the main and counter shafts are under sideways thrust to force them apart and so the counter shaft bearings must be able to handle this. The F4W63 uses small roller needle bearings to support the counter shaft and is robust enough to handle the stock L16 but only adequate for an L20B. The F4W63 used in the 510 wagon is identical but has a wider ratio gear set than the sedan, with a lower (higher numerically) first gear. This identical transmission is also used in the '72- Sept. '73 620 truck. Even reverse is lower for use in a vehicle that was designed for extra load carrying.

 

Sedan Gear Ratios:

 

1st... 3.382

2nd... 2.013

3rd... 1.312

4th... 1.000

Rev... 3.364

 

Wagon Gear Ratios:

 

1st... 3.657

2nd... 2.177

3rd... 1.149

4th... 1.000

Rev... 3.638

 

 

R3W65 3 speed

 

Honorable mention to the remote operated (column shift) 3 spd. used with the L13 engine on the earliest 510s. The R3W65 outwardly resembles the F4W63 4spd. and is also 26.3" long, a two piece design with ribbing and removable pan with drain. The speedometer drive is on the left side of the tail stock, as is the reverse light switch on the main body. The external shift linkages are located on the right (passenger) side of the main body. Gear ratios are the same for sedan or wagon.

 

 

 

 

AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSIONS

 

Because some owners may have an automatic equipped 510 and may contemplate replacing it or changing over to a standard I'll list them here with a brief description.

 

BW 35 Letch Worth

 

Probably the earliest automatic of Borg Warner design, used until 03 '71 when the JATCO 3N71 replaced it. Square removable oil pan with drain plug and screened vent opening on lower right side of bell housing. Cable down shift and shift linkage on left side.

 

BW 35 Muncie

 

trans70510BorgWarner351.jpg

 

Used on '70 to 03 '71 when the JATCO 3N71 replaced it. Square removable oil pan without drain plug and screened vent hole on very bottom of bell housing. Vacuum operated down shift and shift linkage on left side.

 

3N71B

 

trans3N71BLseriesshort72510.jpg

 

Nissan's in house automatic introduced in 04 '71 to replace all Borg Warner design automatics. It has a square removable oil pan with rectangular notch missing from right rear corner. Vacuum operated down shift and shift linkage located on the right side. I'll list more info on the Nissan 3N71B automatic and it's descendants at the end of the manual transmissions.

 

All 510 automatics are close to 26.3" long.

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