Thanks to all who helped! The car is finished and on the road again :)

B310gx and ddgonzal were on the money, the "stopper" was getting in the way. I took to it with a large hammer and drift and it came apart nicely. I then slid the tailshaft in and it cleared by the 15mm minimum we needed! I was so happy, we tested it with a full load of passengers and me jumping on the tow bar and it barely moved. We had no cover for the gear knob and I watched it while we drove and it didn't scrape either so it works!

The car is fantastic fun to drive. I'm a Toyota enthusiast myself but I must say that I have grown quite fond of this car. The comparison of worn engine automatic to renewed engine manual is enormous.

Thanks again to all for their help.

i'd try removing the 'stopper'.i've done this before,as there is two sizes of rear seal available here in australia,& it's easier to just get rid of this piece.it should allow the tailshaft to slide in far enough to fit.it's only pressed on to the front yoke,so just tap it off with a drift.

Thanks for the reply.

Okay well today what we deduced that it is indeed too long (and there's nothing we can do otherwise) so we are sending the shaft away to get shortened.

My question now is, would it actually be possible in this case to cut off some of the oil seal dust cover to allow the shaft to slide in more? That or cut off the "stopper" possibly?

Thanks again.

I think there is normally about 1 inche of play. It should never bottom out. The sliding part of the yoke is about 3 inches long.

Let's review:
1. B310, remove auto transmission
2. Fit standard trans from a B210 into B310
3. The B210 tailshaft had larger flange at rear than B310 diff -- maybe to fit the 120Y-only B/W diff? In any case, a different or modified shaft is called for.

*The 56 and 60 transmissions are the same length (as far as we've seen)

*The automatic and standard B310s use the same differential (H150).

Premise: a standard B310 standard trans tailshaft should complete the swap.

You found a shaft at the wreckers that was already out of the car. But it was marked "Sunny". So it should be from a B310.

It all sounds right. But it doesn't quite fit. I would go back and find one from the back flange face to the "stopper" part of the front, and get one a that's a bit shorter.

It should be 49 inches. How long is the one you have (from back flange face to face of "stopper")?

By the way, it's not really a "stopper" -- it's never supposed to go in that far. The cup on the end of the trans is a "dust cover" according to my B310 factory manual. This design just helps keep most road dust from getting up to the seal.

Thanks for your kind words oh great one. :)

It seems that we may have been mistaken. The tailshaft seems too long, but only by a small amount (~1 inch at the most).

This only became apparent as we tried to install it, it was a little tight. However it did go on and this issue only cropped up once we tried to drive it. The problem is that the little cup on the gearbox oil seal is grinding against the "stopper" on the tailshaft, in fact it begain lathing itself quite nicely. The car also shudders from this so we concluded that it's too tight.

My question is, how much free space should be allowed for it to move? It seems we may just have to get the tailshaft shortened.

I find it really dodgy that only this 1 - 2 cm difference needs modification. I'd much rather move the engine forward but I won't.

Glad to hear a success!

Another Datsun will soon be back on the road

Thank you again to all who helped out. With a bit of luck today we returned to the wrecker in question and actually found a tailshaft that does match!

The length and width of the shaft was that of the 120Y manual shaft but the flang on the diff side was precisely that of the auto. Upon cleaning the shaft we found the words "Dat Sunny" written on there indicating that it was indeed directly from a Sunny.

Saved ourselves $150.

Excellent. Thank you very much fellas.

Yes, just get a B310 manual tailshaft. It should bolt right in.

Yes, the auto vs. manual driveshaft is different.Quote:The EGI models used a two-piece shaft with center bearing, similar to the longbed GB122.

The 1971-1973 Datsun 1200 manual tailshaft is the same overall length as the B310 manual but with different bolting in back. Both should use the "Japanese" differential (H145 or H150). But take careful measurements and double-check before you buy. Nissan changed specs several times. you want to get one where you can change the back flange.

B110 and B210 use same driveshaft (except for the Aussie-built 120Y models).

I thought I heard the B210 Coupes in Australia came from Japan, so if correct they should also work with a flange change.



tailshaft comparo

the 120y could have had a h145 as well.the 120y had a smaller flange than the sunny.the
easiest thing to do is get a sunny manual tailshaft,but you could mix & match if you can find the same size rear yoke.try under some of the other datsuns at the wreckers.then change the rear yoke over.unfortuneately the sunny's universal joints are peened in,so you can just use the original rear yoke,unless you can get someone to machine out the uni joint.try to find a borg warnered stanza,i think these are the same size.