New Zealand Datsun Club

brought a 620, wanting to find a idea of price to convert to factory l20b with 5spd,

also is this only possible as a 5spd floor as factory, is it available as a column?

5 speed was only floor change as far as I am aware, but NZ new 620s only had J15 engines and later on the SD22 as well and 4 speed column change only. Cost would depend on sourcing engine and gearbox. L series can be quite hard to find now.

tsC20 wrote:5 speed was only floor change as far as I am aware, but NZ new 620s only had J15 engines and later on the SD22 as well and 4 speed column change only. Cost would depend on sourcing engine and gearbox. L series can be quite hard to find now.

Bugger, not keen on a modern upgrade, but if i have no choice, and i spose i could make a cable system to convert a floor to column but spose its a "is it worth it"

You could probably adapt a column shift box from a Z series powered early navara or 720. I'm sure some of them were column shift. Swap the bellhousing from an L series floor shift 71 series box, onto a coumn shift gearbox. Odds are the 620 linkages could be made to work.

Bartman wrote:You could probably adapt a column shift box from a Z series powered early navara or 720. I'm sure some of them were column shift. Swap the bellhousing from an L series floor shift 71 series box, onto a coumn shift gearbox. Odds are the 620 linkages could be made to work.

hmm, will have proper look at how the column shift works movement wise, hopefully similar to a FWD linkage (like on my VR6 project)

if I change box ill change engine from the J15, will have to think of a suitable alt to a l20b setup if too rare

A few small mods are required to fit the L20b. Alternator needs relocating to the passenger side. sump will need a notch to clear steering arm depending on what model the L20b is from. (I think with a 720 L18 sump fitted it may fit fine without a notch) coil wiring re routed over to the passenger side. J series engine mount modified due to the L series slant. Throttle linkage setup. 5 speed is a straight bolt in, but the drive shaft will need to be shortened. The L20b is a good upgrade for the 620.

I am wondering if you can use the Serena 5 speed with L series bellhousing, I understand these are linkage. Would no doubt take a bit of work but probably more available.