York,
I just purchased a 5 speed conversion kit for my Sprite. There are
two kits that I'm aware of being sold in the States, one from
Morriservice (Paul Asgeirsson) <mailto:pasgeirsson@juno.com> and one
from Rivergate (Bill Perry) <http://www.rivergate5speed.com>. Both
use the Datsun 210 (not B-210) transmission. There is another kit
sold by Frontline <http://www.british-cars.org.uk/kimber/frontline/>
in England that uses a Ford gearbox. It may require cutting of the
frame and tunnel panels and of course rewelding of same. I don't know
much about it. It also costs about $1500, but includes everything
(kit plus tranny).
The two Datsun kits don't require changing much if anything in the
Spridget. Both kits work and cost about the same at the end of the
day, though there are many options for both and so pricing will vary
according to your needs. The people behind both kits are extremely
well-respected and have worked with British cars for a long time.
Paul frequently contributes to the spridgets list.
I don't think that the 210 transmissions are scarce. I found 6 in the
Atlanta metro area after making just 3 phone calls. I pulled one from
the junkyard three weeks ago for $50. Additionally, they are sold by
several people online (try spridget list member David "Crash" Ramsey
<dwramsey@worldnet.att.net>) and both kit manufacturers will sell you
one. Finally, I am replacing the pivot bushings and the rubber boots
on mine. The local Nissan dealership had bushings and one boot on the
shelf. The second boot arrived the next morning from a cross town
dealership. The point is that parts are still available.
Here is a brief listing of differences between the two Datsun
conversions in my opinion. I am open to discussion of possible
inaccuracies.
Clutch: Bill uses the BMC pressure plate and a Toyota clutch,
preventing the need for machining of the BMC flywheel to accept the
Datsun clutch. Paul is all BMC in front of the adaptor engine plate
and all Datsun behind the plate. This requires that you mail your
flywheel to Paul for resurfacing to accept the Datsun clutch. This is
by far the biggest discussion point between the two kits. Many people
using Bill's kit have had no clutch problems. At least one person
using Bill's kit with a 948 engine and 1098 pressure plate had all
kinds of clutch problems resulting in rapid wear and ended up going
with a Datsun clutch after having his local machine shop resurface
and balance his flywheel. Some people with Bill's kit complain about
the clutch being very snappish. I have driven one such conversion
where the total functional clutch travel was about the first one inch
off the firewall. This is more of a problem with pre-'68 cars that
had the dual bore master cylinder. Bill now sells a special CNC slave
cylinder set up that supposedly fixes all clutch feel problems. I
have one, but it's so new that I may be the first customer using it.
Paul says that clutch feel is different but not bad with his kit.
Starter location: Bill keeps the starter in the same (BMC) location.
This necessitates a large cut in the side of the Datsun transmission
housing so that the BMC starter Bendix has clearance. Nobody using
Bill's kit has had any problem with this AFAIK. Bill also sells a
very nice fiberglass cover to go over the hole to keep dirt out.
OTOH, Paul moves the starter down so that the bendix is in the bulge
that the Datsun starter occupied when in the 210. There is still some
relieving needed, but not as much. I think that this difference is a
wash with one intriguing exception: You can use a gear reduction
starter that does not have a bendix shaft. On Bill's kit, there still
will need to be some clearance cutting, but not nearly as much. On
Paul's kit, potentially there will be no need at all for cutting. My
only concern is whether there is enough clearance between the body
panel and frame rail because Paul places the starter lower than Bill.
It may be a solution to a problem that does not exist. GR starters
can be expensive ($225 to $300) for the nice racer ones. However, the
starter from a post '89 Isuzu Trooper V6 ($75) is a straight
trade-out for the BMC unit. I've also heard that the Isuzu P'UP
starter will work. Body clearance for either is a concern, but if you
pursue this, please let me know as I'm interested.
Rear crank seal: Bill sells a true rear seal that looks like it will
work better than the BMC solution and the rear seal kit sold by Mini
Mania. I have one and it's a slick set up. However, it is so new that
I have not heard of any testimonials other than from Bill, who has it
in a couple of cars. Paul sells a seal solution also, but it's not a
true seal AFAIK. Bill will modify Paul's adaptor plate to accept
Bill's seal.
Gear shift lever: For either kit, you must use the bottom part of the
Datsun lever. Bill will cut the Datsun lever and machine it so that
you can use the BMC shifter knob. Paul cuts the top off the Datsun
lever and the bottom off the BMC lever, then he welds the Datsun
bottom to the side of the BMC top. This allows use of the original
BMC shifter housing. Bill's solution requires that you use a shifter
boot (rubber, vinyl, leather, etc) depending on your individual car.
Usage and anecdotes: I know of 5 or 6 people on the spridgets email
list that use Bill's kit. There are at least 3 in the Atlanta metro
area. They are all reasonably to extremely happy with it. I don't
know anyone using Paul's kit, but I know that several are out there.
I have never heard anyone or even heard of anyone saying anything bad
about either guy. Both answered all of my questions in detail and
bent over backwards to help me understand exactly what their kits do
and do not do. Both have decades of experience with these cars.
My decision: I bought Bill's kit, but not for a sound reason really.
The machine shop that my rebuilder uses is cranky and persnickety.
They had already begun balancing my engine when I determined that IF
I was going to use Paul's kit, I would need to send the flywheel to
him. The rebuilder basically wasn't happy with this because he did
not want to 'mess with the machinist' and also he was concerned about
the timing - the racing season was upon us and my little street job
was rapidly moving down the totem pole! Given that I usually can't
make up my mind about anything, I guess this all worked out for the
best.
Hope this helps,
Jeff
At 11:25 PM -0500 3/27/00, Kroyell@aol.com wrote:
>Hi all
>
>It has been my desire to switch to a 5 speed with all the good reports coming
>from the list. Now I need to know what is the best & most cost
>effective way to
>make that change? What is the best source for the conversion kit?
>If there more than 1
>company making them.
>
>Thanks in advance for all the valuable info.
>
>York Powell
>72 Midget
Jeffrey H. Boatright, PhD
Assistant Professor, Emory Eye Center, Atlanta, GA, USA
Senior Editor, Molecular Vision, http://www.molvis.org/molvis
mailto:jboatri@emory.edu
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