Hi all,
I have recently discovered that my 1200 ute has a 56A five speed box in it.
Don't laugh, I've had it in the shed for about 12 years, obviously knew it was a five speed, but not a 56A.
The car hasn't been licenced for about ten years and we (my son and I) are getting it ready for licencing in Perth.
I now vaguely remember when I bought the car, the guy said it was an "option 1" gearbox. This didn't mean anything to me at the time, I have ony learned the info from Tech Wiki.
I had the box rebuilt about 8 - 10 years ago when I pulled the ute apart for a rebuild (yep it's been sitting idle most of that time, no sense hurrying these things :) + we had other projects, see pic below).
Nothing wrong with the box, but replaced bearings etc anyway. It hasn't turned a gear in anger since.

My question is... How do I confirm it is an option 1 box ?
Is there anything externally to indicate between the GX 5 speed and the option 1
Really don't want to pull it apart again if it can be avoided...

Thanks in advance

Adam

PS: We don't really need the box now as we have a 60A 5 speed, so if anyone is interested, we would eventually part with it (after registration) for a fair price.
"Fair price" means good for both parties. Not a rip off from either way...

Attach file:

---

  DSC_0001.jpg (190.78 KB)

Put it in first gear, put a texta mark on both the input and output shafts so you can count the revolutions of the input shaft v's the output shaft then count how many turns of the input shaft it takes to one full turn of the output shaft. Then you'll have your answer.

Also the bore diameter of the clutch cable spigot will give some idea of what it came from. Large bore will indicate a B210GX gearbox which is a bit more common in Australia and will definately the wide ratio 1:1 option 1 box v's the close ratio option 2 box.

Thanks for that info. The box is still in the car, so hard to check input v output.
From Tech Wiki, there are three possibilities.

32010-H7251 stock GX-5 5-SPD TRANSMISSION
32010-H7251P OPT #1 W/R 5-SPD TRANSMISSION
32010-H7220N OPT #2 C/R 5-SPD TRANSMISSION

I'm pretty sure it won't be the option #2 as first is low ratio to drive and from what I read, they were racing only.
Trying to suss whether its the standard GX-5 or the Option 1
Are there any numbers stamped anywhere yo indicate the gear set used ?

Thanks again.

Adam

If you have an A12 engine, the 56A 5-speed is the way to go. It has 5 close ratio gears, while the 60A 5-speed has 4 wide ratio gears + overdrive.

Quote:

I think that the GX-5 transmission is the Option 1 (so called wide ratio) version. So called "wide ratio" as it is actually a reasonably close ratio gear set with direct (1:1) top gear and 1st gear about the same as a 4 speed with the result that you have five gears in the same spread of ratios as in the 4 speed 56 trans. The "option 2" 5 speed is also a direct top gear, but first gear is 2.6:1 -v- 3.7:1 in the other gearset. The result is that your five gear ratios will be in just about the same spread as 2-3-4 in a 4 speed, so it's virtually starting in 2nd and having an extra gear between 2nd and third and another extra gear between 3rd and top. This gearset is sometimes referred to (and IMO accurately) as "ultra-close ratio" with the other gearset called "mid-close ratio).

The mid-close ratio is fantastic to use in a road car and would be perfect for a road car used for a bit of track work. The ultra-close gearset is really only suitable for a track car. Getting a road car started on an uphill start with a 2.6 first gear and a modified engine that needs plenty of revs can be challenging for both driver and clutch.

As the only difference is a different gearset there is no way of telling which one you have without opening the transmission to count gears or driving the car. As soon as you drive it you'll know which one it is!

With engine and transmission in the car you could use Revhead's method to count rotations, but you'd need someone under the car watching the tail-shaft go round and another person turning the engine and watching the front pulley - probably only possible with the plugs out.

You shouldn't have difficulty selling a gearbox like this one - whichever gearset it has. If I'm cashed up (unlikely ) when you come to sell it I'd be interested in negotiating a fair price.

This is straight out of the Nissan Competition catalog. They didn't list a "mid-close" gearset.
Quote:
The GX5 transmission is not OPTION 1 or OPTION 2. The option boxes use non-stock gearsets. They are nissan gearsets, but weren't used in the factory GX5 as I understand it.


Quote:OPTION 2 has a high first gear. Feels like 2nd gear in the stock 4-speed. This is the C/R (Close Ratio) gearset.

Yes, I drove the car for a couple of years and 1st is definitley close, if not the same as a standard 4 speed. With 4.11 diff, she gets about half way across the lights before you need to change up.
So having ruled that out, I was curios to find out about the option #1 and a way to tell without pulling the box apart.

Any help, info and opinions greatly appreciated.

Adam

We have a mild A15 as power plant, so I'm keen to see how the 60A feels. Also have a set of 3.88' for the diff.
The effort is to make her drive more like a sedan than a ute and sit on 100kph without sounding like she's working too hard...
Anyone have 1st hand experience with this combination in a ute of otherwise ?

Cheers

I had a stock A15 in my 1200 with 3.9 gears and the 60A 5-speed. It was a smooth shifter, very nice.

Much much more low-RPM power than the A12. Even though 1st gear is higher. And more high RPM power too.

Then, put in overdrive and it quiets down and returns high fuel-economy.

Note that the 56-series is too lightweight for A14 or A15.

So it is the wide ratio version, so the spigot diamemer of the clutch cable will tell you the rest of the story. The 1200 uses an early 19mm(ish) spigot and the later is approx 25mm.