Transmission Interchange

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Which transmissions bolt into the 1200, and what is involved in swapping them? Basically any B110, B210 or B310 gearbox will bolt to any Nissan A Engine, but minor fabrication is needed in some cases. In no case will a custom driveshaft be needed - if you can source the appropriate factory shaft.

See Also

• For swapping of automatic transmissions, see Automatic#Interchange
• 5-Speeds

Overview

Interchange

Only these interchange, meaning they can be bolted in place and used as-is with each other no matter which car they came from:

* four-speeds for A14/A15 engines
* four-speeds for A12/A13/A12A engines

Emissions

Note that this simple interchange list does not include emission control interchange. Some year/model/market transmissions include a Neutral Switch or Top Switch - and some include both. For example, for a 1979 210 with same engine, transmission differs between California and Federal markets. If you need to pass emissions, be careful in sourcing the transmission.

RHD vs LHD

Right-hand drive vehicles have transmissions that differ from Left-hand drive. See

Exception: the B210.A14 five-speed is same RHD and LHD.

To swap the others RHD to LHD, you will need:

* Clutch Release Lever
* To use LHD gearbox in RHD car, cut out the lever hole
* To use RHD gearbox in LHD car, Drill and tap the slave boss

Swapping

There are several minor differences between most transmissions that prevent a strict interchange, although they can all be swapped with some additional parts sourcing or minor fabrication. Differences include:

* gearbox mount location
* reverse lamp location
* transmission length and output spline
* torque rating. The 56 is not recommended behind A14/A15

Strength

Gearboxes are rated for maximum torque (twisting force). The HP is irrelevant unless engine capacity or RPM are known, from which the torque can be deduced.

* 60-Series Transmission add lightness for best performance
  suitable for the torque of an A12 or A13 engine

* 60-Series Transmission are stronger, but heavier
  suitable for the torque of an A14 or A15

* 63-Series Transmission are larger and very heavy
  Fitted to five-speed B210 with A14 engine
  suitable for supercharged A-series engines

The 63 5-speed gearbox was designed for the 1.6/1.8/2.0 liter class, but used in the B210 because a lighter 5-speed was not available in 1976.

Sources

B110

* 3W56R - three-speed column shift
* F4W56L - early 1200s
  1971 USA used either the L or A type. See Hollander.
* F4W56A - lates 1200s
* FS5C56A - Datsun 1200 GX-5

B210

A12-powered
* F4W56A - B210 with A12 engine
* FS5C56A - B210 with A12 engine, five-speed

A14-powered
* F4W60 - 60-Series Transmission, four-speed
* FS5W63A - 63-Series Transmission, five-speed

B310

B310 (markedted as Datsun Sunny, 210 or 140Y/150Y) used these gearboxes:

A12/A12A/A13-powered: 56-Series Transmission
* F4W56A 

A14/A15-powered: 60-Series Transmission
* F4W60 - four-speed 
* FS5W60L - five-speed dogleg shifter (1977-1979)
* FS5W60A - five-speed standard shifter (1980-1982)

Swap Notes

4-speeds - F4W60 fitted to A14/A15 - F4W56A fitted to A12A The mount points for the crossmember differ

5-speeds - FS5W63A fitted to B210 - FS5W60 fitted to B310 The mount points for the crossmember differ The output spline and length differs

60-series are same length both 4-speed and 5-speed. The output splines are same. Ditto for the lighter 56-series 4-speed. You need to fabricate a mount adapter to swap these in a B210. B310 came with 3 different crossmembers which will bolt to any B310 so factory parts can be used.