R32 GTS Type S (Naturally Aspirated) Transmission Compatibility?

[redm0th]

I am in the process of getting a 1990 HCR32 Skyline GTS Type S (Sedan) and I have a few questions I am hoping someone can answer.

Is there a R32 Skyline GTS or GTS-T service manual? I have the GT-R manual and the RB series engine manual, but this document is NO WHERE online. Every topic here and elsewhere the links are all dead and are a decade or more old.

What transmission does the GTS and GTS-T use? As per this blog it says that the R32 and R33 GT-Rs used the Nissan(FS5R30A). Did the GT-R and GTS-T use the same? Are GTS-T parts compatible with the regular GTS?

It says that the 300ZX transmission parts are pretty much exchangeable with the R32 and R33 GT-Rs but does that also go for the GTS and GTS-T?

I am mainly wanting to get all my ducks in a row and the information lined up before hand in case any problems pop up and I am caught off guard.

[GTSBoy]

The GTR manual is pretty much suitable for the GTSt. Doesn't cover 2WD stuff obviously, but it covers GTS4, which is RB20DET, so you get pretty much all of the GTSt stuff you need except gearbox.

GTS uses a flimsy gearbox related to the 4 cylinder boxes. GTSt is basically the same box. These are tiny boxes compared to the big tough RB25DET box. The RB25DET box is basically the same as the front half of the GTR box. The Z32 boxes are related to the RB25DEt and GTR boxes, but obviously with VG bellhousing (which is the whole front half of the casing).

You cannot mix and match anything from small gearboxes to big ones.

Some (many) of the parts from big boxes go back and forth. AWD boxes are obviously different in many ways. They have a transfer case, so the output end is different, the shifter is different, the mounts are different.

All of this information is available on here in spades! Just search. It's been >20 years since this forum started.

[redm0th]

6 minutes ago, GTSBoy said:

The GTR manual is pretty much suitable for the GTSt. Doesn't cover 2WD stuff obviously, but it covers GTS4, which is RB20DET, so you get pretty much all of the GTSt stuff you need except gearbox.

GTS uses a flimsy gearbox related to the 4 cylinder boxes. GTSt is basically the same box. These are tiny boxes compared to the big tough RB25DET box. The RB25DET box is basically the same as the front half of the GTR box. The Z32 boxes are related to the RB25DEt and GTR boxes, but obviously with VG bellhousing (which is the whole front half of the casing).

You cannot mix and match anything from small gearboxes to big ones.

Some (many) of the parts from big boxes go back and forth. AWD boxes are obviously different in many ways. They have a transfer case, so the output end is different, the shifter is different, the mounts are different.

All of this information is available on here in spades! Just search. It's been >20 years since this forum started.

This may be an incredibly ignorant question but let's say that something fails on my GTS transmission and the entire thing needs to be replaced. Would I be able to replace it with a GTS-T transmission or a GT-R transmission? Also since the GTS and GTS-T uses such a similar transmission can I source transmission parts from it?

[GTSBoy]

12 minutes ago, redm0th said:

Would I be able to replace it with a GTS-T transmission

Yes. Basically the same thing.

13 minutes ago, redm0th said:

or a GT-R transmission

No, because AWD.

13 minutes ago, redm0th said:

uses such a similar transmission can I source transmission parts from it?

Why bother? Break the gearbox, then replace engine and gearbox with LS1 & T56.

[redm0th]

1 minute ago, GTSBoy said:

Yes. Basically the same thing.

No, because AWD.

Why bother? Break the gearbox, then replace engine and gearbox with LS1 & T56.

 

Sorry but when you say LS1 all I can think about is the Corvette engine. That's not what you mean right?

[Ben C34]

Yep

[GTSBoy]

10 hours ago, redm0th said:

Corvette engine

 

10 hours ago, Ben C34 said:

Yep

But we don't think of them as a Corvette engine. They were a family car engine here. They're lying around in piles. Much better idea than trying to upgrade to any RB option.

[admS15]

LT4 if you want to be really a really cool kid

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

Samsonas sequential would be my pick.

[GTSBoy]

I'd be very willing to try a HGT 6 speed.

[floody]

Simple answer is most RB manual gearboxes are a direct swap for each other; exceptions being AWD and RB25DET boxs.
So anything RB20E/ET/DE/DET will fit, RB30E box will fit (VL Turbo RB30ET box is larger), RB25DE box will fit. Same applies to non-skyline chassis, e.g. Cefiro, Laurel, VL Commodore.

There are theoretically minor internal differences between RB20 turbo and non-turbo gearboxes (e.g. double synchros on first and second in most 'turbo' boxes, differences in case reinforcing webs), in practice they don't always apply and don't really matter.

Edited July 8, 2020 by floody