BlueStag

Guys, Since I got my 4sp auto working properly, i.e. holding shift under full throttle to 5k rpm, I have been thinking how much more fun I'd be having with a 5sp. All in my Triumph Stag which has a Datsun drivetrain in it. Any comments on the difficulty of such a swap would be appreciated. I'm trying to remember if the drive shaft is the same......

What do L6 5 sp's sell for? Especially the 81 to 83s?

Good point, don't restrict to Maximas. Could find one at a pick your part. I think the length of the tube and stick are what matters more than the shape the tube needs to be to fit in the car. And while I'm at it, I should consider grabbing a whole trans in the event this one goes tiits up.

I'll tell you: there is a hell of a slick in the garage, but of course the pump runs while the thing is in park but running. I'm hoping that it is just purging out of a vent on the top. It was shifting oddly for a few days, oil cavitation. Not good for the hardware. But the shifting seems OK now. Checked the level today, only slightly over the top of full. I'll clean up the mess for the second time, then see how the fluid goes. It is very difficult to measure, as the stick goes down the tube with no ease at all. The last curve just at the Trans is too tight, but the Triumph was not made for this car. I should look around for a spare unit at the right price...

Wow. Not one bite?

Again, this is a Maxima over drive automatic that I need a dipstick tube for. The tube off any 3sp trans's will not serve the purpose.

For some reason I am not able to launch a topic over on the trans topic forum. And this is specific to L6's. So. I am running a Mxima OD autobox in my Triumph behind the L6. In the process of doing the swap I had to adapt the heck out of everything, including getting the dipstick tube fitted. The blasted thing is hard to push back down the tube.... It was shifting poorly, it had been leaking, and I checked the trans oil, seemed low. Added a quart, think I over filled it. And now it is just dumping oil. I'm hoping that it is just dumping the extra oil out the same leak I have had all along. And with luck it is the gasket for the pan. Who thinks it is one of the shaft seals? Ouch.

It will certainly leak. Stuff some rags into the ports and extract it with an extractor. They cost about $2. Hope not to strip the threads in the head, but even that can be repaired in place.

He has a ton of recent word sunk into this one.

Bump

Hey guys, I'm the dingbat who put a Datsun Z engine in my Triumph Stag. I used a Maxima 4sp automatic, a L4N71B. When I did the conversion, about 12 years ago, I had to bend the dipstick tube rather a lot. I have trouble pushing the dipstick back in the tube. I'd like very much to get a new tube and try again, and keep the bends a bit smoother. Anybody got one for cheap? In Los Angeles would be golden.

Painful but true: electronic ignition and fuel injection, etc, is much more delicate and needs careful handling compared to '60's era equipment, like using jumper cables direct from the battery to a starter motor to test its function.

Wow. What sort of motorcycle takes a cast iron block straight six? Why do I have the feeling that this thing is not going to be brilliant at taking turns?

Well, it has not changed in years....... If you don't have an answer tomorrow, I'll go out and measure mine.

Find an Alfa Montreal.

That's a shame. Nothing fundamentally wrong with a 260. Until you drag it along a guard rail.

Eight bucks? Persuasive. I had my car up on stands for 9 years, and when I came to change the filter, it left metal in the threads. It is a stinking mess. Thanks for the tip.

Does anyone have the oil filter nipple, or stud (the bit the oil filter screws onto) that they can separate from a block cleanly and ship off to merry old Los Angeles?

My chassis is a '73 (in California) and thus is exempt from smog testing. My conscience, however, is not. If this were just a hobby car that I was driving a few hundred or thousand miles per year, I certainly would not be considering a FI engine. I expressly chose a Datsun L6 due to the fact that it can be readily fitted with SUs. If I ever do go to the expense (no time soon) and the trouble of swapping in a more powerful engine, I will be choosing either of the ZX L28 na or turbo. Which one will be a matter of opportunity, cost, complexity, suitability to the vehicle, implications for complications (need to swap in an R200? Need to find a burlier 4sp automatic? More cost.) The fact is that Stags have been built with 400hp engines. But I don't like to think what the necessary upgrades of the suspension and brakes are driven by that. Certainly anyone who takes a Z past 250hp is advised to consider these elements. The Stag is, in fact, very similar to the ZX. Both have semi-trailing arm rear suspension, similar size and weight, wheelbase and track. I think the ZX's brakes were slightly superior in stock form. I am certainly not looking for an absolute pavement beater. 200hp would certainly get my 2700lbs car moving at a remarkable rate. Just getting the down shift worked out such that the trans takes the 125hp engine to the rpm band where I actually get that sort of hp that makes the car a pleasure to drive. I really need a manual transmission in some sort of sports car, long time since I have shifted.....

270hp? I'd be dead within the week. I'm trying to remember what the claimed HP of the stock L28 was. I don't believe claimed numbers readily. If I could have a clean burning 160-175 hp without stressing the engine (I know, I know) I could get real interested.

Well, remember, I do have a 4sp just now, so I would need a REALLY good reason to put something else in there. It has an untuned L26 in front of it, so I don't think it is suffering. Including the fact that it is in a car no heavier than Nissan sent it out in. Hey, what sort of numbers do people get out of N/A fuel injected L28s? Can I get over 150 hp at the flywheel and still have an environmentally friendly engine? Without spending buckets and buckets of money. It seems to me the envior question rather limits the choices of cams, but a good ecu swap might serve the purpose rather well. The point being that this thing just STINKS of gas!

I think I will be leaving well enough alone for now. Remembering that this is my only car..... But I'd really like to give you a 0 to 60 run, I expect it will be obviously faster than the last time you rode in it.

I finally got the kick-down switch working at about 3/4 throttle. I like it! The trans will go to 5000rpm before downshifting, which I need to believe is nearly the peak of the HP on my L26. And the down shift is now happening really only when I want it. Yesterday it was kicking in at moments that I did not need it. I'm suddenly liking this drivetrain a lot more.

190 wheel hp is pretty damned respectable off what is basically a very dated design. It sure as hell would get my 2700 lbs Stag moving. Been driving with the down shift solenoid working, and boy this is a very different car. On flat acceleration, the trans does not down shift until 5000 rpm, which must be nearly the peak hp for a stock L26. I'm struggling to get the down shift to happen more like 3/4 throttle than 2/3rds. It is kicking in just a bit early for my taste just now, but I am liking it!