dime'n daily Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 ok so I see most people using a stock driveshaft shortened to fit. problem is mine came gutted so I don't have a driveshaft. ive been looking for a while and cant find one. motor and tranny is all bolted in just need a driveshaft now does anyone know if a 240 ds work? are the bolt holes the same pattern on the flange that bolts to the diff. anyone ever used anything else? any input would be highly appreciated. 240 driveshafts are a lot easier to find. or if someone has a stock 510 to sell id be very happy next option would be measure bolt holes on the diff and try find a 240 ds to measure and see if I can make something work Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 240sx driveshafts are two piece with carrier bearing. ... and unlikely to be the correct length anyway. Quote Link to comment
TENDRIL Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 there are about 20 in my backyard.... Quote Link to comment
dime'n daily Posted July 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 there are about 20 in my backyard.... 510 or 240sx? Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 There are no KA24DE driveshafts, as such. The driveshaft length is determined by the transmission length. KA series engines use FS5W71C 5 speeds and they vary in length if from a 240sx car (longer) or a Hardbody truck. (shorter) The 510 sedan uses a 42 9/16" long driveshaft and the stock 4 speed is 26" long. Measure your transmission of choice that's on your dime and subtract 26". It will be roughly between 5 1/2 and maybe 8" different, at a guess. Subtract this from 42 9/16 and this (very roughly) will be the driveshaft length needed. Any truck, z car or whatever Nissan with a driveshaft this length or longer could be shortened for your application. This means you would need a driveshaft that can be shortened to 37 to 34 1/2" long The early Z car driveshaft is 700mm or slightly over 27 1/2" The later Z car driveshaft is 750mm or about 29 1/2" long (these are rough estimates and not intended to be used for cutting) Quote Link to comment
mhinkens Posted February 24 Report Share Posted February 24 Decades old post revival: I presently have an l20b with a 280zx 5 speed mated to a 2013 sti (r180) diff. In my 72 2-door 510. I can’t get out to measure it in storage at the moment as I start to amass parts for my Ka24de/5speed swap but I am wondering will my driveshaft already be cut too short? Quote Link to comment
demo243 Posted February 24 Report Share Posted February 24 (edited) @mhinkens Always best to measure for your specific set up- but looking back at my Driveshaft Shop.com I ordered a 38-9/16” shaft for my 4 door. That is from the transmission seal to the flat flange of the diff as they asked for. My engine is slightly pushed back toward the firewall so you may need another 1” or so additional length, so as I mentioned worth measuring your set up once it’s in. I had a l20b with 280z 5 speed in it before and the shifter was pushed further back with the KA so your current shaft is likely long enough to be trimmed down. Edited February 24 by demo243 1 Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted February 24 Report Share Posted February 24 8 hours ago, mhinkens said: Decades old post revival: I presently have an l20b with a 280zx 5 speed mated to a 2013 sti (r180) diff. In my 72 2-door 510. I can’t get out to measure it in storage at the moment as I start to amass parts for my Ka24de/5speed swap but I am wondering will my driveshaft already be cut too short? This will depend on what the KA 5 speed is out of. Your 71B is 31.5" long and the driveshaft sized to match it If from an S13/14 car then the 71C is around 34"-35" long so the driveshaft will need to be shortened 3 or 4 inches. If from a D21 Hardbody truck it's much shorter, around 30". Your current driveshaft is slightly short. Measure the 5 speed and see. Quote Link to comment
mhinkens Posted February 24 Report Share Posted February 24 Thanks for the reply! It’s from an s13 so I should be fine. Now to find a local shop to shorten it (once I measure!). Quote Link to comment
Icehouse Posted February 25 Report Share Posted February 25 You might be able to find someone sell an already shortened drive shaft. Just find one that is 36" center of U-joint to center or U-joint. The prices here have gone up a lot, drive shaft shorten and balance is 350!!! I mean I guess it comes with new U-joints so there is that.... 1 Quote Link to comment
mhinkens Posted March 21 Report Share Posted March 21 Still haven’t got access to my car—snowstorm coming tomorrow in Wisconsin—but was re-reading this and thinking about the hole for my shifter. With a l20b and zx 5-speed I assume the shifter hole in my car was already pushed back, but is the KA 5-speed shifter (from an s13) going to be even further back?! Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted March 21 Report Share Posted March 21 S13 33.25" S13 top and D21 below. The D21 is maybe an inch shorter than the 31.5" 71B you have. 1 Quote Link to comment
demo243 Posted March 21 Report Share Posted March 21 17 hours ago, mhinkens said: Still haven’t got access to my car—snowstorm coming tomorrow in Wisconsin—but was re-reading this and thinking about the hole for my shifter. With a l20b and zx 5-speed I assume the shifter hole in my car was already pushed back, but is the KA 5-speed shifter (from an s13) going to be even further back?! Mine did move back further from my L20b with 280z trans (don’t think it was a zx) If I remember I had to open up the trans tunnel anyway just to fit the trans. The shift ears are a big issue and needs a little “massaging”. I’ll try and look back for some photos. Mine is far enough back that with my roll bar / wrx seat set up I really need a short shifter to limit the rear travel of the shifter to avoid elbow interference with the seat. That said my seat is further forward then I would normally position it but I am limited by the thicker seat and roll bar Quote Link to comment
demo243 Posted March 21 Report Share Posted March 21 (edited) Ok @mhinkens here yah go- l20b with 280z trans and stock shift hole Trans tunnel cut for the KA and s13 5 spd- you may not need to cut down for that port but I don’t remember… this is with my McKinney mounts and possibly set back an extra inch… you can use the seat brackets as a reference for how much further back it sits here is another photo with the shifter to show the shift position on the trans Edited March 21 by demo243 Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted March 21 Report Share Posted March 21 A D21 5 speed would have been better for length. It would have been a little forward of the 280z 5 speed. As for the 620/280z/280zx/810 Maxima 5 speeds they are all the same length. Quote Link to comment
mhinkens Posted March 22 Report Share Posted March 22 @demo243 thank you! got any pics of it stitched back up? How tight did you close it up? I have seen that many people patch it to leave only a small hole for the shifter rod alone, but then, if you wanted to change shifters (for a short throw, let’s say), you’d have to drop the transmission to access the whole assembly. Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted March 22 Report Share Posted March 22 Now that I look at it... why is this transmission sitting so high???? Quote Link to comment
demo243 Posted March 22 Report Share Posted March 22 10 hours ago, datzenmike said: Now that I look at it... why is this transmission sitting so high???? that was not its final resting height. That was when I was still playing around with the T3 trans mount and angles etc… actually still need to go back in and re check the the trans, driveline, and diff angles. @mhinkens I can grab a photo when I go out to the garage later. I did not weld it back up. Just used some DSI tunnel shield to make a cover- was supposed to be temporary… but it’s still there Quote Link to comment
demo243 Posted March 22 Report Share Posted March 22 @mhinkens As it sits right now in its running and driving position. Included the seat and wheel to give you an idea on the driving position. I think I mentioned it before but I did have my KA iron mounts offset to push the engine back about an inch closer to the firewall for pan clearance since I went with a custom rear sump pan. This is what I used to cover the hole in the tunnel. https://www.designengineering.com/floor-tunnel-shield-ii-21-x-24/ It originally was all one piece, but then as you mentioned I had to work on the shifter so I cut it open. I need to add another piece on top to seal it up again. A note on the short shifters- my trans came with a B&M one that I really didn’t like. Throws were really short but it was very notchy and did not like to go into reverse. When I swapped my 620 I used one of the cheap ebay ones and liked it much better, so I ended up swapping one into this car too. 1 Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted March 22 Report Share Posted March 22 4 hours ago, demo243 said: - it was supposed to be temporary… but it’s still there Ain't this the truth!!! The odd time a quick temporary fix works so well why mess with it. Quote Link to comment
demo243 Posted March 22 Report Share Posted March 22 3 minutes ago, datzenmike said: Ain't this the truth!!! The odd time a quick temporary fix works so well why mess with it. But really- it’s driver car, no need to be perfect. Maybe someday I’ll make a nice metal cover to bolt on over it… but doubtful. Quote Link to comment
mhinkens Posted March 22 Report Share Posted March 22 Super helpful @demo243! It’s wild that the entire shifter assembly sits above the floor/tunnel. That seems high compared to other ones I have seen. Is the floor pan just cut into a rectangle around that shifter assembly? Quote Link to comment
demo243 Posted March 22 Report Share Posted March 22 5 minutes ago, mhinkens said: Super helpful @demo243! It’s wild that the entire shifter assembly sits above the floor/tunnel. That seems high compared to other ones I have seen. Is the floor pan just cut into a rectangle around that shifter assembly? You can pretty much see all that I cut in the earlier photos. You may not need to cut as much. Been a few years since I did it so I don’t remember exactly what was needed. If your trans sits lower then you definitely should be able to get away with less. One of the things I don’t like about the McKinney mounts is they sit the engine very high. I’m using a generic poly trans mount. There might be a spacer under there too… to help with the angle because of the McKinney mounts and the t3 trans crossmember being too low. One of these days I’ll dig up the stock Datsun rubber mounts and try them with the aluminum spacers. 510 hasn’t gotten much love recently since my Z has been taking up all my time… Quote Link to comment
demo243 Posted March 22 Report Share Posted March 22 (edited) Just looked back- not running a spacer and here’s one more of what was cut from the tunnel - based on this you probably don’t need to cut as much forward as I did. I remember really wrestling around with the engine/trans trying to get it all lined up… If I recall i think it was more to do with pan clearance with the pan I had made up for me. So I had cut more up front to try and raise it up all to level it out. Edited March 22 by demo243 1 Quote Link to comment
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