[fitzmooney]

Way too much grease on the splines. Will end up on the clutch linings and cause all sorts of trouble.

 

[gerikick]

Way too much grease on the splines. Will end up on the clutch linings and cause all sorts of trouble.

Da haben Sie recht 😥
Dann wäre die ganze Arbeit für die Katz .
Also nur wenig über die Welle streichen

 

[geeyoutoo]

Da haben Sie recht 😥
Dann wäre die ganze Arbeit für die Katz .
Also nur wenig über die Welle streichen

Translation. You're right 😥 Then all the work would be for the cat. So only a little stroke over the wave

 

[Johan Safari]

Thanks for the concern. Well the RB30 that this box came from had a serious main seal leak as was evident with oil on everything. This did not effect the clutch friction surfaces or the material.
The splines however was completely dry and you could see a lot of wear in the grooves. Not the 1st time I've done this and not worried about it. Again, thanks for the concern.

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[fitzmooney]

All I use is a small paint brush to paint the splines of the shaft and the clutch plate. I then slide the clutch plate up and down the shaft a couple of times and wipe off any excess. Make sure to use a thick wheel bearing grease.This is all I have done during 50 years in the game.

 

[Johan Safari]

I had to source some 200x200x10 steel plates and drilled 10 holes...

Bolted the plates to the MQ gearbox mount holes and then the GQ cross member to the new plates. Since the gearbox mount of way forward from the center break over point, I now have at least 2 inches more ground clearance.

another angle of the result...

And the side view. May add a small bash plate under the transfer just in case

Next the gear levers go just behind (left) of the big hole. A little cutting and it's all done.

 

[Johan Safari]

Finishing up before the test drive took a while when a few issues showed up.
Getting the gear lever and the 4wd lever back took some wrangling with springs and circlips etc.
The clutch pedal needed adjustment as the pin was about 25mm too long. Cut more thread and chopped off the extra bit. Perfect clutch travel and feel.
The clutch slave rubber hose started leaking. Ordered a new one.
GQ handbrake cable bolts up exactly the same as old MQ too easy.
Put the starter motor back in, only to discover the bolt hole threads needs some cleaning. Not much space down there... made a thread cleaner which fixed the problem.
Put the right front seat back...
Turn the key and I can hear a relay clicking but the starter does not turn over... o yes, this used to be an auto with a disable built in if not in Park or Neutral... Find the wires and luckily I could just plug the end of one into the other.
RB fired up straight away as usual but since I had to bend the exhaust out of the way for the left side bracket, it was now leaking at the front. Clutch works perfectly. Gear changes smooth...
Well the ratio problem seems fix finally. Instead of 85km/h in 1st, I now get 35km in 1st. Way way better!

Another story. When I went to pick up the gearbox, we forgot to secure the drum on the handbrake with a bolt. So somewhere on the way home the drum came loose and fell off never to be seen again...
When I got home I realised what happened and I remembered about the spare MQ transfer drum in the shelf. Well it is the same size and the bolt holes fit.

But while you drive, there are bad noises from stuff touching on the inside... So I need to find the original part....

I also need to find a mid size GQ front output flange as I decided to use the MQ tail shaft to drive the front wheels.
The MQ flange from my spare transfer case may not fit on the GQ splines. Then I need to lengthen the MQ tail shaft a few centimeters. I decided to use the MQ tail shaft as it has a double cardin joint and is thinner which gives me the needed clearance over the front cross member.

All in all I am happy. Just a few small problems to sort out. Also need new carpets as the old ones are shot and the gear lever holes don't line up anymore.

 

[Johan Safari]

Well there is also another issue that I have been ignoring till now. The speedo cable from the MQ now has nowhere to go as the GQ gearbox has a pickup sensor at the back of the transfer case. Planning to replace the driving gears in the speedo with a stepper motor and a micro controller to pick the sensor signal and calculate the speed based on the sensor signal. While I do that, I will also convert the tacho as well. Always wanted speedo and tacho needles that sweep left to righ a couple of time at startup.

 

[Johan Safari]

Got lazy. Found this GPS speed on Fleabay for cheap. It's 90mm which is exactly the inside diameter of the current speedo. May have to do some trimming but I do a have spare back holder. Probably not ideal, but it will do the trick. Will see how it goes. At least it will be way more accurate than the MQ speedo which was out by 15km at 100km/h. Then just the stepper motor rev counter connection to the Nissan ECU.

 

[Johan Safari]

Leafy gqs had mq guards, the diffs are same width. I have a h233 front from a leafy ute for my mk

If you don't mind, how easy/difficult was it to mount the GQ leafy front diffs? Does the leaf perches line up? And the GQ steering is behind the axle, so you can probably just swap the MQ knuckles right? Any photos? Last question, what ratio was that 4.375?

 

[Ethanissan]

Got lazy. Found this GPS speed on Fleabay for cheap. It's 90mm which is exactly the inside diameter of the current speedo. May have to do some trimming but I do a have spare back holder. Probably not ideal, but it will do the trick. Will see how it goes. At least it will be way more accurate than the MQ speedo which was out by 15km at 100km/h. Then just the stepper motor rev counter connection to the Nissan ECU.

I guess my only concern with this method will be going through tunnels, you'll lose GPS tracking and won't have speed anymore. I suppose you can just follow traffic but I guess in my head it just makes sense to keep some kind of physical speed tracking.

 

[Johan Safari]

I guess my only concern with this method will be going through tunnels, you'll lose GPS tracking and won't have speed anymore. I suppose you can just follow traffic but I guess in my head it just makes sense to keep some kind of physical speed tracking.

Yes that was my concern too initially. But I don't go through tunnels very often and over the last 200+km I have not noticed once that it did not work driving around the city and freeways. Then again, I don't look too often as I mostly follow the car in front. What is nice is the accuracy compared to my mobile displaying Google maps where the speed seems to match perfectly. I may one day, when I have time to spare, go back and build one using the original face and needle...
I do have one problem with the GPS speedo. There is a lot of reflection from it making it sometimes hard to read during the day. The LED back light is also slightly brighter than the rest, so I may butcher it at some stage. But for now, I am happy with the easy fix.

 

[Insannigq]

If you don't mind, how easy/difficult was it to mount the GQ leafy front diffs? Does the leaf perches line up? And the GQ steering is behind the axle, so you can probably just swap the MQ knuckles right? Any photos? Last question, what ratio was that 4.375?

I couldn't tell you, I was looking for lockers and found front and rear lockers in complete diffs for a good price, just so happened the front was a gq diff already modified, they're 4.3s. Perches are moved. As for the knuckles I haven't given it thought, I'll have to look next time I'm there

 

[Ethanissan]

If you don't mind, how easy/difficult was it to mount the GQ leafy front diffs? Does the leaf perches line up? And the GQ steering is behind the axle, so you can probably just swap the MQ knuckles right? Any photos? Last question, what ratio was that 4.375?

Leaf sprung GQ patrols had the same steering setup as MQ's, with the linkages in front of the axle and the relay arm in the middle, so you shouldn't have to change them for it to work

 

[Johan Safari]

Thanks for the info. Think I may keep my eyes open for a leafy Ute to do a SOA sometime in the future

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[Ethanissan]

Thanks for the info. Think I may keep my eyes open for a leafy Ute to do a SOA sometime in the future

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Sounds good, from what I’ve gathered reading around,

the steering setup is the same,

the leaf perched on the front axle are a few mm off, so they don’t quite bolt up,

the rear perches I don’t know,

you’ll have to change the diff pinion flanges to suit the MQ tailshafts,

no idea if the shocks are in the same spot but I can’t imagine them being much different (I’ll bet you’ll do something about them either way with the soa),

brake lines are probably in the same, or similar, places,

as stated earlier you’ll gain like 10mm track width either side, from memory,

And the leafy GQ front h233b is a 4 pinion diff, so stronger, but you might struggle to find a locker (?) for it if you decide you want one.

I’m confident you could do the conversion easily though


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[james008]

Leaf perch difference wouldn't matter, they'd be cut and moved for SOA anyway.

From memory GQ front and MQ diff flanges are the same bolt pattern, but rear is different. Could be wrong on that though.

Yeah steering is the same. Arms, lengths and ball joint tapers.

Knuckles are interchangeable between MQ and GQ leafy. Can't remember if GQ leafy uses GQ or MQ caliper carrier though, they are slightly different offsets but are otherwise identical.

 

[Ethanissan]

Leaf perch difference wouldn't matter, they'd be cut and moved for SOA anyway.

From memory GQ front and MQ diff flanges are the same bolt pattern, but rear is different. Could be wrong on that though.

Yeah steering is the same. Arms, lengths and ball joint tapers.

Knuckles are interchangeable between MQ and GQ leafy. Can't remember if GQ leafy uses GQ or MQ caliper carrier though, they are slightly different offsets but are otherwise identical.

Oh I was under the impression that all 4 diff flanges were the same on any one vehicle, being:

Small on all MQ/MK patrols
Small on RD/RB GQ and GU patrols
Big on all others (ZD, TD, TB).
Like you though, I could be wrong.


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[Johan Safari]

Oh I was under the impression that all 4 diff flanges were the same on any one vehicle, being:

Small on all MQ/MK patrols
Small on RD/RB GQ and GU patrols
Big on all others (ZD, TD, TB).
Like you though, I could be wrong.


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Medium on MQ
Medium rear RB/RD rear, front small

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[Johan Safari]

Update finally. It's a couple of weeks now since I have finished the main conversion. Lots of small nigly problems to sort out. Driven around 600km mostly in the city and some on the freeway. Lets just say I had my doubts a number of times during this build.... but finally I am smiling and very happy. Will I do it again, well maybe now that I know exactly what NOT to do!
So I currently have a 1982 Datsun Patrol with a 1998 RB25DE Neo, a 1993 model manual gearbox from a GQ RB30/RD28, a rear diff housing from a 97 Terrano II TD27 and a LS rear diff center from a R50 Pathy/ VG30 Navara for the correct ratios.
The 1st obvious difference you notice from the back is that the rear diff center is now in the middle and not on the right to match the GQ gearbox center output.

And the auto shifter is gone and it is time to build a new center console. GU center piece coming soon. Yes i should have painted the gear stick...

New carpets and I still need to do the trimming, but that may not be required when the new center console is done.

New sill scuff plates all around as well as black pinch well. Gone the 40 year old blue stuff.

Used my new best tool rivnuts to mount the plates securely since the old screw holes were really warn out.

How does it run? Superb! With the extra sound deadening and all the holes sealed up, it's a very quiet ride. No vibrations and when cruising no engine or exhaust noise. Well put the foot down, and the exhaust makes just enough noise to turn a few heads.
Instead of 85km/h in 1st gear with the 3 speed auto, it now hits the rev limiter at 40km/h in 1st and 80 in second. Much much better. And with the VVL it quickly gets there too. But, there are still plans to change to a RB25DET Neo. Prices are just a but crazy at the moment.
But right now the 82 Datsun has plenty of get up and go and it actually drives like a much newer car. I have no idea if the fuel consumption is better, because I still enjoy the extra pulling power with the lower ratios.

Do I recommend this conversion? Yes, but only if you really love the MQ/MK body style! Much easier to buy something newer. Unless you have or have access to car hoists and gearbox jacks, don't try this at home.