hello folks.....I am currently on a spot and am wondering if you could help. I have a 87 diesel d21 and am lookin for a transmission......I just got the truck and am finding it very hard to locate anything for this thing. this is my first nissan but have a 70 datsun truck as well. any help would be appreciated

not sure where you are located, but there are salvage yards that specialize in "foreign auto parts"..i would check places like that, or some regular salvage yards. do you have no trans at all? or just a bad one? perhaps have yours rebuilt?

if i could find one i would but their are none!....and the one i did find the gye wants way too much for it! i am located in canada.....and the parts online system say's none are here. I could rebuild it but i cannot find any parts

hmmm....have you tried on ebay...perhaps finding a wrecked or rotted out truck with the same tranny?

I have tryed e-bay, parts online, every wrecking yard in 3 provinces, aftermarket people.......and nissan. they want 1700$ for a new one. There seems there are none of these left! I'm going to pull the pan off and inspect the motor.....if it's worth it, then i might order one. I can find parts faster for my datsun than this thing! I'm begining to wonder how many were built in '87?

I can also tell you that a 87 gas trans, will work.........if their are any of those out their!!!

it cant be many...my dad just bought a new close ratio gearbox for his bmw and it wasnt that much!! i would check for other crossovers...to other years od models.

87 is the ONLY year that will work.......all the others are a rear shift linkage style....mine a top loader, they only made it one year......I was at nissan today ,me and another guy went through all the meashurments of other tranny's and found this oddball to be different. It seems that these were notorious for blowing 5th gear. most people that had them have sold them to the wreckers because they didn't want to pay to have the tranny fixed,and because of the age of the vehical.......they crush them..........i gotta decide if it's worth it to spend the bucks, and the little bugger is good on fuel.........so wich is the worse of the two evil's?..lol!

hmm..how about this....does the tranny contain a removable bell housing? if so, could you make your bell housing fit onto another gearbox? or could you perhaps find an engine/trans combo and swap both?

unfortunately i am unable to help you with that either, sorry redneck. but welcome to the site!

The bellhousing's are interchangable in the two.....the gas has the starter on the right......diesel on the left.....I have a good bellhousing.....just need the guts but I cannot find those either! The local shops all want to use used parts, charge 80% the cost of new, and one offered to load it in the car for warrenty, nice fella's eh?. I have been a heavy duty mechanic for 15 years and never seen such a bunch of fool's.....one even had the nerve to tell me that "it should be looked at by a qualified tech", 15 years in the trade, I told him should be enough....no? The boy's at nissan have been good though, the only one's to not try and screw me, they are finding out how long it would take to get from japan......and when it would be avalible..anyone know of any aftermarker rebuilders for nissan tranny's?

have you tried a performance tranny shop?

I got ahold of man-trans.com and have not heard back yet.....nissan say's that their is one in japan, and 'cause the number is good, I would not have to pay for the freight!....lucky me....lol. I am thinking that unless I hear from the few companies that I have contacted(performance shops), It'll be coming from japan, and I'll be driving my truck in less than.......get this.....4 weeks!lol!!. I just don't know if the old girl is worth the buck to spend on it anymore, and if i do i'll have to keep it till I'm dead to get my money out of it

if you dont mind my asking...what do they want to fix it??

to fix.....used parts, 1300$. I was just at the local junk yard again, my buddie works there, and he thought he found one.......but it was for an 86 gas datsun.....then we had a few beers and I found a 87 hustler 4x4 in the back ,that they forgot they had, I am going to see if the two guts are interchangable tomorow!.........their might be hope yet. It's a gas and the overdrive is 3% less.......but I'll be on the road!

heck yeah! hopefully that works out for you! so it sounds like you have the knowledge to do the work yourself?

well........I went and tore into it, they are not interchangeable.....no matter what nissan say's! I have been their and done that now.....lol!, the search continues

couldnt you bypass this trouble an buy a more common engine and trans combo?

I hate to sound nasty......but I have something not very many people have, although not worth anything, this kind of stuff seperates the men from the boy's......in my humble opinion......anybody with money can buy something, you are above the pack if you can build it yourself.......am I wrong?

hmmm, very good point. and you sound nasty at all. i do understand!

man its easy... im not sure were your located but if your in a rural area look around farmyards.. or ask around .. a nissan truck is one ofthose things that is usually sitting around a farmyard for years ... and hey.. its a nissan they last forever

what luck... i just bought a 1987 nissan d-21 for 1,200 and it has a brand new transmisson in it and its a mannual