As the title says, I installed a B&M shifter on my RB20DET. Also, as some of you may know from trying, B&M does not make a shifter that fits the RB20DET tranny. The shifter they sell for the SR20, P/N 45088, also fits the RB20 NON-TURBO. But it will not fit the RB20DET (I tried). The problem is that the striker arm in the SR20DET/RB20 is about 15mm longer than the RB20DET striker arm. Thus, the shifter runs out of range because it has to reach too far forward to fit into the RB20DET striker arm hole (don't worry, the pics will show what I mean).

However, there is a way to get a near-perfect fit using the KA24 striker arm. By near-perfect, I mean that I got it to within 3 mm of the intended fit (i.e. the SR20DET/RB20 fit). That is close enough to make it shift perfectly and it has a good angle. So here goes:

Step 1: First you need to buy some parts from some NICO sponsors:

    a) KA24 striker arm parts from Midway Nissan      striker arm - 32844-V5002 $30.47      pin      - 32917-E9620 $ 1.15

    b) B&M shifter from Injected Performance      P/N: 45088 $179 shipped

    c) Permatex silicone

Step 2: Remove the stock shifter and cover. You will see the striker arm:

If you measure, you'll see that the KA striker is about 12 mm longer than the RB striker (measuring from the pin to the shifter hole). Ideally this would be 15 mm, but 12 mm works out ok. Here are the two striker arms:

Step 3: The B&M bolt pattern is slightly different than the RB shifter plate pattern. You'll need to drill a new hole (1/2") and fill the one it replaces with something like JB Weld:

Step 4: Because the new striker arm is not quite 15 mm longer, the B&M top plate will have to be beveled slightly to clear 2nd, 4th, and reverse:

Step 5: At some point you'll have to replace the RB striker arm with the KA striker arm. This is difficult with the tranny in the car and easy with the tranny out of the car. Either way it can be done. Choose your poison. Hammer the old pin out, pull out the RB striker arm, fit the new arm on the shaft, and hammer the new pin in.

Step 6: Install the B&M shifter as per the B&M supplied instructions. Use the Permatex to make a new gasket. Don't bother buying a new Nissan gasket... the KA one will not fit and the paper ones don't work that well anyway. Here is the B&M shifter installed and in the neutral position:

This install is really nice if you used the RB x-member because it brings your shifter center right back to within 3 mm of the KA shifter position -- it's almost dead-center again. Plus, now you have a B&M shifter.


Modified by Wulfgang at 2:32 AM 5/3/2005

red x's ownz me......fix the pics please i want to fit my b&m and didnt realize its diffrent.i would assume if i had a spare ka tranny laying around i could canablize it for this striker arm eh?

Red x's should be gone.

Yep, I too ditched my KA tranny before trying to fit the B&M. You don't have to buy a new striker arm, tho... you could take your RB striker arm to a machine shop and get them to weld in a piece of 1/2" thick steel to extend it. That is what I considered doing, but the KA arm fit was so close I decided to go ahead with that.

Good info....I'll make it a part of the sticky.

Nice!

now a quick q...when you say bevel the black ring bit how much do you need to take off for it to fit right?i dont want to take too much off and have slop nor have too little and have binding...

You won't have slop if you take off too much. It does not work that way. There are two springs that sit in the holes you see in Step 3 (not shown). The purpose of the cap is to hold those springs down, so as you can see, the only part of the cap that is necessary is the part that covers the spring holes on both sides.

But for a clean looking adequate installation, I used a 45º bevel just deep enough so that there is still a small sliver of black showing at the bottom of the bevel. Kind of hard to explain.... the bevel should be as deep as the thickness of the cap, but no deeper.

well i pulled my ka out today and removed the b&m shifter from it.i tried to get out the striker arm but couldent get it out of the ka tranny is there some sort of trick to make it work?also how do i get it out of the rb its in the same size.......

Look at the pic in step 2 above. There is a retaining pin that has to be hammered out first. Then the arm just slides right off.

The FSM says to remove the centering springs/balls first, but I did not find that necessary. If it is for you, then you'll just have to remove the two big bolts on either side of the tranny case. You can also see those bolts in the pic sticking out from the sides of the tranny. They are 21 or 22 mm, iirc.

well then i must be fking retarded then.....i removed both retaining pins as well as the centering pins and put the tranny into 3rd and i cant get the arm out no matter how hard i try.i popped open my old s13 fsm and from what i can understand it should come right out.ive no idea waht im doing wrong.

It must be frozen to the shaft. Maybe try some PB Blaster on it and soak it overnight.

nah, not in the least.i can move the striker arm around like its cake but i cant get it out of the transmission (ka).i havent tried the rb but im sure it will come out easierbut then i still need to get the ka one out....

You can move the arm (the cast piece) on the shaft? Then it should just slide right out when it's in 3rd gear. Maybe it's not sliding all the way into 3rd?

The RB arm should definitely come out easier, because as you have probably seen, the KA arm is longer and has less room to slide forward. But it should still come off. I have the 95 FSM, and that is how Nissan says to remove it.

well i managed to get the striker arm out of my ka tranny and the way to do that was to split the tranny case......drilled out the hole for the large 17mm bolt on the shifter plate and filled that one on the plate and bolted it to the rb tranny.i just bolted in the tranny and engine today into my s14 and i was amazed at how well everything fits in, i put the ka dust coller on the tranny and the drive shaft fits the rb like a glove with no free space.anyways the shifter is in the car and the box is filled with fluid and its amazing to see that the whole setup looks stock, this is definatly a good mod to do to the rb, however i would not try it if the engine is in the car.

I also tried taking the striker arm from my old KA tranny and that mofo aint comin out at all. It looks like the arm is too long, and contacts the rear of the shifter housing.

Carl, what did you do to get yours out? What do u mean by Split the Tranny Case?

when i said split the case i meant just that, unbolt the center section and seperate.

Yes, it is too long. But if you put it in 3rd gear, it should come right out. FSM says so, and this was the case with mine. I can't see why anyone else's would be any different.... the trannys should all be identical.

would this work for the 25 as well?

-Ry

rjewell wrote:would this work for the 25 as well?

-Ry

No way in hell. The 25 has a slanted plate.
Modified by Wulfgang at 6:47 PM 12/22/2005

Just an update. I've had a little more time with the B&M shifter, and it is VERY TIGHT. No slop whatsoever, and an amazingly short and precise shift. Click, click, click. Because the shift is so much shorter, the throw is quite a bit harder than stock and very nice.

So if those of you still using the Pilot/OBX/Megan type shortshifter were wondering if the almost $200 is worth it, I say YES. Those other shifters are not much shorter than stock, but with the B&M you can really tell the difference. Heck, the dust boot design alone is worth the difference (if you've seen the Pilot setup you'll know what I mean).

Get it.

Doesn't Fidanza make one for the RB20DET?

EDIT: I checked the application listings and all it says is RB20 #843200. The number is different then the KA number however so its probably DET but I'd suggest to phone them first. Also, NISMO makes one as well for the R32 GTS-T #34110-RN595 in case anyone didn't feel like modding anything like myself

It was covered in a thread not too long ago that the RB NISMO shifter only shortens throws by 10%. This is far from the ~30% that other true short-shifters offer.

Don't get too excited about Fidanza before someone actually installs one of their shifters into an RB20DET. Their guide is suspect for various reasons (e.g. 2002 240SX???), and it is far more likely that they make a shifter that also fits an RB20 than that they screwed up and meant to say RB20DET.

I also have the B&M shifter in my RB20DET and I love it, every that drives it loves it, and it is definately worth the 200 bones and extra work needed. Seriously, getting the striker arms off was the hardest part, everything else is cake.

Hi, did anyone put in a b&m with the tranny in the car? I had a hard time taking the striker arm out too ended up hitting the back of the trans itself, i had to split it, maybe i didnt have it in 3rd all the way, anyways, how did it go for you guys with the trans in the car? thanks.

i had problems getting the ka striker out of the trans, but the rb one came out stupid easy.

Carl H wrote:i had problems getting the ka striker out of the trans, but the rb one came out stupid easy.

Cool and the ka one went in the rb trans easy too? I am gonna try this with my trans in the car, i just dont want to knock my car out for a while and be forced to drop the trans.

thanks

yeah, from what i remember the ka one went into the rb trans fairly easily.

wow good info where was this 7 months ago when i needed it

I got a KA 5 speed tranny for my KA auto swap - the guy I got it from did a RB20 swap - and of course took the striker arm, but left the RB arm in the bag with all other bolts etc.

I installed the arm thinking it was the KA arm and tried to do some test shifts holy crap that was way wrong!

So I call the guy up and he lets me know it was not the right striker arm etc - So all is good - I called my local Nissan, the guy had no clue what I was talking about Im like and you work at Nissan?? Let me take your over payed job!

But now here is a direct link to one w/pin!! Thanx mucho!!!