Thanks for the writeup! Great info

I am kinda surprised that no one mentioned the best way to make a short shaft 5 speed for your "L" block powered truck/car that is not weak like the dogleg, which are getting hard to find anyway.
So, in 1980 the 720 came with an L20b, it also came with both the 4 and 5 speed longshaft transmissions, the front case/front cover/lower cluster gear bearing is needed off either the 4 or 5 speed transmission, one might be able to use the later 620 5 speed case also, but I have never used that case myself.
Next you need a shortshaft 5 speed out of a 1985/86 Nissan 720 regular cab/short box 2wd, it has a napZ case on it, so what you do is take the napZ case off the short shaft 5 speed, and put the 1980 "L" case/front cover/bearing from the long shaft 4/5 speed onto it, now you have a short shaft 5 speed that will bolt onto any "L" block.
In my opinion one should buy the best lower bearing(cluster gear bearing) one can buy when doing this conversion, the lower bearing is the weak spot on these transmissions, I wrote an article on how to do this above, just not sure if I should post a link to another forum.

nobody has mentioned the fact that the NAPZ 510 (A10) 63A transmission (as used in the HB/Sedan body cars- not sure about the wagons) has closer-ratio gears in it. Gears 1, 2, and 3 are taller with 4 and 5 being the same. i used that trans in my dime (with the L-series case/bell) and it worked great with my stroked L20B and 4.11111 rear screw. I am doing a complete body and paint on my car and the motor and trans are sitting out- not sure if I will use that combo- looking real seriously at a GM 3800 II V6 adapted to the Z32 5-speed trans. my friend has a KPL610 with the 3800/Z32 combo and it blows my mind. he says it is just 215hp (as used in the 1999-2002 camaro) but it feels like a lot more. not a big fan of such motor swaps (and i've put a lot of work and resources into my old drivetrain), but after a ride in the 610, it's very tempting.