Bill:
Sorry about the confusion. I put the nissan 5 speed in a midget. I have had
a "B" before, and their is alot more room to work with than their was in the
midget. The tranny I used was out of a "78 B210 with a 1.3 Engine. I don't
know if it would be strong enough for a B. What I have seen is a 5 speed out
of a Rover or TR-8 used in a "B". maybe someone else out their can give you
a little more information.
For those interested in putting a 5 speed in a A-Series Midget, I continue:
I found a conversion backing plate at a wrecking yard in the trunk of
another midget. It is 7/8" thick aluminum, and is the shape of the Nissan
tranny, except at the top, where it conforms to the 1275. Holes where cut
for the crankshaft, oil pump cover, and starter, and all mounting holes to
the engine were counter sunk.
To adapt the clutch, we machined out the end of the crank shaft to
accept a needle bearing type pilot bearing. I had the flywheel surfaced, and
redrilled to match a nissan clutch and pressure plate.
To make the clutch release arm work, we had to devise a bracket that
allowed us to rotate the location of the release arm pivot point 180 degrees,
and cut a hole in the bell housing for the arm to pass through at the new
location. Then we made a bracket to mount the slave cylinder to. We stayed
with the MG slave cylinder. With the slave relocated to the drivers side of
the car (US) we used a clutch pressure line from a 1500 series Midget to go
between the master and the slave.
If you want to take the front clip off the car every time you take the
engine out, you might be able to get the tranny in and out without cutting.
I know how often I like to take it out. so we cut the area under the tranny
away, including the boxed section, To replace the strength, we capped of the
boxed crossmembers, rolled the edges and made a crossmember out of plate
steel that was probably alot heftier than necessary. To support the tail of
the tranny, we used a standard GM rear tranny mount.
The nissan drive line has the exact same bolt pattern at the 3rd member
as the british unit, so we had the nissan driveline shortened, and installed
replaceable u'joints. This job was more than I anticipated when I
started, but was well worth the effort. My friend at the tranny shop was a
big help in designing the brackets. Next time I have it all out, I will
duplicate the parts so that I can provide someone with more specific info.
We haven't got the speedometer problem sorted out yet. The spedo drive
is too close to the tranny tunnel to fit a cable or an angle drive. Any help
with this part of the problem would be apreciated.
Dave Riker
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