The Premier 118 NE 5 speed gearbox upgrade After deciding to abandon the 2nd idea of plonking in an ISZ gearbox, I had shelved the idea of having a 5 speed. However as I keep referring to www.wiki.datsun1200.com for all info regarding the engine & gearbox of 118NE I got to know that this powertrain was sold in the South African market until as late as year 2008. Hence the chances of finding a direct fit 5 speed gearbox is more from South Africa.
The third attempt
So the search for a friend in South Africa started in 2017. Got to know that a school friend of mine was settled in Zambia and she happened to know one of her colleagues living in South Africa. It appeared as everything was going to be smooth. I got in touch with him, passed on a few links off www.gumtree.co.za and one of them happened to be pretty close to him. In a weeks’ time the deal was closed and he had the gearbox with him. But then he got busy with his PhD dissertation and couldn’t find to ship that to India. Fast forward Aug 2018, the gearbox reached Chennai by TNT courier. That was the only shipping company that didn’t ask for an invoice. Of course the entire process costed as much as a used 118NE itself. That’s the height of craziness I ever displayed towards cars. I unpacked it, mounted the gear lever and I confirmed if the gear stick was slotting into all 5+1 positions, and yes it did. With this I placed the gearbox into storage and started accumulating the parts needed to install them. The gearbox mount for the 5 speed and 4 speed are different. With a few trails I settled down for a Tata Sumo gearbox mount and it seemed to fit straight under the Nissan 5 speed and hence settled down for the same and started off with ideas for gearbox subframe. Again www.wiki.datsun1200.com came to my rescue and finalized with a design.
4 speed and 5 speed comparison
1. Bell housing – bolt on, hence no problem with starter motor & clutch cable
2. Input shaft splines – same size and teeth count, hence no need to change clutch plate
3. Speedo cable – same
4. Reverse gear switch – placed 8 cm backwards in comparison with 4 speed.
5. Output shaft splines and oil seal – Same
6. Gearbox mount – located 8 cm backwards as compared to 4 speed
With this the above info and a motivating friend (David) we started off with the swap job. Another friend (Prathap) lent me 2 tripod stands and some misc stuff to raise the vehicle. The project kicked off, day 1 was on 1st Feb 2020.
To be contd…
Last edited by ilangop : 20th February 2020 at 08:40.
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