Manual Conversion

[kcmagee]

Hey all,

I am contemplating a manual conversion for a bit more driver involvement, and to also get rid of the man cans feeling that comes with driving an auto :-).. But like most of us it all comes down to practicality and costs.

I was speaking with a friend who mentioned that the Celica gearbox is great value and would be great for a Skyline, is this possible or would it require extensive modification to do so. And further to this, has anyone put any non skyline boxes in there cars?

[000DNK]

i heard that the best gear box ever made was the ones for a skyline r33. but this was just what i heard from a mechanics shop i cant back it up, having never driven anything else i suppose

[cuppas]

take R33 box, transplant into R34

solved!

[Gtrgodzilla67]

in theory you could use an rb30de gearbox with minimal mods, other that that your screwed as the bellhousings differ to much.

[dori34]

^ rb30e box with minimal mods; what do you mean exactly?

[kcmagee]

Thanks everyone. I am probably putting a r33 box in, I just wanted to know if other boxes were interchangeable, as in different boxes from different makes, i.e. toyota, mazda etc.

Just need to start saving and buying the parts now.

[DjeMz]

what the hell is so good about a celica box?

[Simon-S14]

nothing... they are old heaps of shit.

[grey pearl]

take R33 box, transplant into R34

solved!

Hi, I'm surprised to hear you guys singing the praises of the r33 box or was that only because it was the easiest no fuss fit-up.??

I have read 115 pages of forum on drivetrain and found a woeful track record for 33 boxes,they do bearings regularly from slightly more clamp pressure clutches, are notchy and slow to change if you don't want graunch,they spit 3rd gears because of the clip arrangements that hold them in, and 5th also who knows why and do seals into the bell-housing area also.

My GTR has done most of these things already,with only 70000 on the clock so I have been looking for solutions to avoid multiple problems and have decided on advice from the forum and a gearbox expert to upgrade mine to series 3 which has a bigger input shaft and a different holding in mechanism for third gear,in the hope of avoiding future expense while I'm replacing the clutch anyway.

I must say that I was very disappointed with the info from the forum and the hard evidence I have seen on my own car,that shows that these boxes are far from the indestructible things I thought them to be before I bought my car and it hasn't been abused either, I chose the series 3 upgrade, as the only alternatives to that are either synchro or non synchro dog boxes which are very expensive and noisy

Will let you all know how it goes once it's done,and by the way what are r34 boxes supposed to be like for strength ,not as good as a 33 judging by the comments in your posts.Cheers Grey Pearl.

[grey pearl]

Hi, I'm surprised to hear you guys singing the praises of the r33 box or was that only because it was the easiest no fuss fit-up.??

I have read 115 pages of forum on drivetrain and found a woeful track record for 33 boxes,they do bearings regularly from slightly more clamp pressure clutches, are notchy and slow to change if you don't want graunch,they spit 3rd gears because of the clip arrangements that hold them in, and 5th also who knows why and do seals into the bell-housing area also.

My GTR has done most of these things already,with only 70000 on the clock so I have been looking for solutions to avoid multiple problems and have decided on advice from the forum and a gearbox expert to upgrade mine to series 3 which has a bigger input shaft and a different holding in mechanism for third gear,in the hope of avoiding future expense while I'm replacing the clutch anyway.

I must say that I was very disappointed with the info from the forum and the hard evidence I have seen on my own car,that shows that these boxes are far from the indestructible things I thought them to be before I bought my car and it hasn't been abused either, I chose the series 3 upgrade, as the only alternatives to that are either synchro or non synchro dog boxes which are very expensive and noisy

Will let you all know how it goes once it's done,and by the way what are r34 boxes supposed to be like for strength ,not as good as a 33 judging by the comments in your posts.Cheers Grey Pearl.

No objections to my findings on r33gtr boxes,I'm surprised I was expecting a deluge of posts defending them,I still would like to know more about the strengths /weaknesses of the series 3 gtr box and what improvements if any Nissan made to the gtr34 one.Cheers Grey Pearl.

Edited May 2, 2008 by grey pearl

[4door_Sleeper]

No objections to my findings on r33gtr boxes,I'm surprised I was expecting a deluge of posts defending them,I still would like to know more about the strengths /weaknesses of the series 3 gtr box and what improvements if any Nissan made to the gtr34 one.Cheers Grey Pearl.

Your comments about the 33 GTR box's are well documented and known, but we arent talking about a GTR here, he wants to put a manual box in a GTSt (whole different ball game)

The 33 GTSt boxes are a good box and cope well with moderate power increases.

kcmagee, the celica 5 speed boxes are quite strong and used to be the box of choice in 70's v8's both becuse they could take the torque and because anything is better than a 3 speed (especially if it was on the tree). Given that skyline parts are very cheap and the 33 box is good I dont think you could do better for value than keeping with a nissan box. If you have a ball tearing 400rwkw then I agree the 33 box wont do, but until then its your best option.

[grey pearl]

Your comments about the 33 GTR box's are well documented and known, but we arent talking about a GTR here, he wants to put a manual box in a GTSt (whole different ball game)

The 33 GTSt boxes are a good box and cope well with moderate power increases.

kcmagee, the celica 5 speed boxes are quite strong and used to be the box of choice in 70's v8's both becuse they could take the torque and because anything is better than a 3 speed (especially if it was on the tree). Given that skyline parts are very cheap and the 33 box is good I dont think you could do better for value than keeping with a nissan box. If you have a ball tearing 400rwkw then I agree the 33 box wont do, but until then its your best option.

Thanx for the reply 4door,do you know anything about the gtr34 box and what was done to improve on the 33, and whether you can put a 34 box in the 33 if they are in fact any better?? Cheers Grey Pearl.

[4door_Sleeper]

I am no guru on the 34, but I believe there is very little different between the 2 box's.

The advantage the 34 gearbox has is that its usually a lower km (less abuse) box and likely to have less wear, hence proves to be a bit more reliable.

[grey pearl]

I am no guru on the 34, but I believe there is very little different between the 2 box's.

The advantage the 34 gearbox has is that its usually a lower km (less abuse) box and likely to have less wear, hence proves to be a bit more reliable.

Thanx Mate,Replies seem to be very few and far between on this forum,appreciate it! Anyone else have any tech info on gtr34 boxes and whether you can put them into gtr33's, hope I never have to go there but would like to know anyway??Cheers Grey Pearl.

[ShayneJ]

I have heard about a VG30 turbo box has the same internals as the rb25det gearbox. May have to change the bellhousing to suit the rb motor and i think the shifter sits further back (does sit in the standard spot anyway). Pretty sure they are the same length also, so may even be able to keep standard tail shaft.

Another option to think about as they can be nabbed quite alot cheaper than a rb25det gearbox.

[bubba]

Umm.. I think there's a BIG difference between a 33gtst/gtr box (as they are pretty much the same internals from what I gathered) and a 34gtr box. 34 gtr runs a Getrag 6spd, I believe this is the same box in the JZA80 3L supras, if Nissan asked for/made any alterations other than the transfer case, I can't say.

[grey pearl]

Umm.. I think there's a BIG difference between a 33gtst/gtr box (as they are pretty much the same internals from what I gathered) and a 34gtr box. 34 gtr runs a Getrag 6spd, I believe this is the same box in the JZA80 3L supras, if Nissan asked for/made any alterations other than the transfer case, I can't say.

Cheers Bubba, I'd like to find out more about fitting the 6 speed to a gtr33,also how tough are they.Grey Pearl.