Gidday Dodgeman, just to give you a bit of info on the history of the A series 63a gearbox in Australia, they came into the country in the very last of the imported Sunny station wagons ( I think it was about '84-'85 model) My brother actually had one of these vehicles so I've seen the gearbox in the car in person. Interestingly they were behind an A-15 motor.

To my knowledge thats how the ones in the country made it hear.

You are right when you say they were designed for the L-series motor, the spare complete internals I have are from a 180sss gearbox, abolutely identical except fot the input shaft which has the L-series spline on it.

I've got an A-series t50 set up as well at home, so I will endevour to put both boxes on the scales and see which one weighs the most, I'm pretty sure the t50 will weigh in heavier.

Personally, having driven with both and if I had the choice I would go for the 63a gearbox over the t50, the ratio's of the 63a seem better suited for the ouput of the motor of the A-series.

so at the end of the day guys am i on thr right track... is this too expensive????

If it helps, I think one (a 63a) went on ebay about a year ago for about $1700-$1800.

Yeah I think that the one on e-bay last year went for about $1750...

I got a worked A15 and sometime in the next few years I plan in supercharging it, I only have the 56 4 speed in it now and know that its a weak link (but I have a spare). I will not put a toyo box in a datsun, its all datsun and thats the way the car should stay... I would prefer the 60 because of the size and weight...

From what I have read the 60 wont be strong enough for the engine? or is there a way of making it? like straight cutting the gears? I have read this somewhere I think...

Or should I chase up a 63? I also really dont want to have to change the tunnel to help it fit.

i've heard that people in the past have put 180B SSS gear sets and bearings into the 56 5spd casings with a mild machine job to fit the bearings in, this would then give you a very tough box that can handle up to about 300hp. but this is going back a while so find both boxes could be a bit expensive but the advantages would be great.

The sort of prices being quoted in Aust. are simply ridiculous.
Have a good surf through Trade me here in NZ and I guarantee you that you will pick something up for around $350- 500 max. when they come up- and they do come up from time to time.
Get yourself a freight forwarder organised, get the seller to send it to them and ship it over.
The 63A box is an excellent box and what I used behind my turboed A14. The only issue that I ever had was the 'detents?' playing up.There is a bit of a gap between 2nd and 3rd but the way that engine pulled it simply didn't matter.
Good luck.
Dave

Quote:

So I guess this rules out a Toyota supercharger then?

Yeah mate... no toyo supercharger still haven't figured that one out yet. I want to build the car with all datsun, nissan, custom mate or after market parts, don't want to corrupt the datsun with anything else... its going to make it pricey, but thats just what I get for wanting perfection...

EDIT: If any of you NZ boys are offering to help me out? I would be willing to take advantage of that... I plan to head over there soon anyways for a holiday...

The numbers that define the designation of the gearboxes are not just random numbers plucked from the air, they are supposed to be the linear distance between the centerline of the input shaft & the cluster shaft.

The 180B SSS gearbox is a 63 series which means that the centerlines are 63mm apart. To fit this into a 56 series case is going to take a lot more than some "mild machining to fit the bearings in"
For what it's worth, all of the 3 speed, 4 speed & 5 speed 56A gearbox cases are the same. The difference is in the sandwich plate & the extention housing, but the gearbox case always has 4 gears inside & any number above that is housed in the extention housing.

I don't know where you 'heard' about the big gears in little case conversion, but you can tell the informant that it would be wise if he confirmed the info before passing on yet another Furphy.
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[For overseas readers, Furphy is Aussie for "misinformation", a word that goes back to the trenches of WW1 when the drivers of the watercart [made by Furphy] would pass info along the line on their rounds. Invariably, with each re-telling, the info became less factual or current]

Further to my last comment I just had a look and there is a complete Sunny with 5 speed up in Auckland at $630 which is about $560 of your money + bank charges. Do you know anyone who could pull the box out for you and help to get it to a freight forwarder?