Nissan Atlas / Cabstar

[Seed2Leaf]

I noticed NICOclub doesn't have a section under Nissan for the JDM Nissan Atlas and Cabstar. I am currently using these for my business and thought I could gather some resources and possibly attract a larger group to assist me in posting information about these amazing trucks!

A little information about my F23 Chassis.
Original Specs:
Engine: NA16 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_NA_engine)
Transmission:
Model: Double Cab F23 Chassis

Project Plans
This week it will be going in for a full swap KA24DET with Haltech E6X standalone.
CP Pistons, Manley H Rods, over sized valves, GX2860 T3 Turbo with ISR Manifold.

[AZhitman]

THAT is way too cool! A KA-T in that will be spectacular! Tell us more!

[Rogue One]

I found this, but it's written in Cyrillic.
Nissan Atlas, Condor 1984-1996 Service Repair Manual.pdf

[Seed2Leaf]

Thanks @Rogue One for posting that. I had a copy as well, no luck finding an english version.
The truck was produced with a number of engine variations. The reason I went with a KA24DE-T was because the vehicle was originally offered with a KA20DE which was also a engine offering in the D21. My thoughts are the KA20DE and KA24DE share the same KA block and the variation was bore, etc. Therefore the KA24DE should mount in the engine bay. (More on that to come!)

The F23 Chassis was offered in the 100 and 150. (1 ton and 1.5 ton) and I chose the 100 series because up here in Canada we have a 4500kg road restriction. After 4500kgs GVWR you have to pull in to scales and report all driving hours and inspections. A process that more often than not resulted some type of "deficiency". Cargo/Tank remained at 1,000L so 1,400kgs cargo was fixed leaving me with 3,100kgs maximum curb weight.

Factory Power: The 1,600cc gasoline engine had 76 horsepower, the 2,000cc gasoline engine with 91 horsepower, the 2,300cc diesel engine with 76 horsepower, and the 2,700cc diesel engine with 85 horsepower (net value) were made available. The 5-speed manual and 4-speed automatic transmissions were made available to be combined with the engines.

Thoughts: Driving this unit with 76 horse stock makes highway travel near impossible. Max WOT is 124km/h and it didn't take long before I was dealing with a blown head as a result. Engines aren't made to travel 400-600kms at WOT especially with the poor air flow of a cab over. Our goal with the KA24DET will be 300hp.

[Seed2Leaf]

Update on my Nissan Atlas build!
The engine mounted well. With ample room for the turbo manifold.
We needed to get a Cablecraft system designed from California Push-Pull as we wanted to keep using the 240sx transmission. The original transmission had a clever side shift mechanism but I wanted to make sure the entire drivetrain is eventually converted to North American spec so parts can be easily sourced.

Build Details:
Camshaft - Brian Crower Stage 2 Camshafts
Crankshaft - King Main and Rod Bearings
Pistons - CP Pistons, Manley Rods
Fuel - Radium Top Feed Fuel Rail Conversion, ID 1050X Fuel Injectors, Radium Direct Mount Fuel Pressure Regulator
Exhaust - ISR Performance V2 Tubular Exhaust Turbo Manifold
ECU - Haltech E6X
Turbo - Garrett GTX3076r 0.63


Check out my Seed 2 Leaf Environmental blog post ->
https://seed2leaf.com/improving-our-ser ... xpertise/

[sabaody05]

Interesting stuff you have there. Any update regarding your truck build?

[Seed2Leaf]

Hey @sadbaody05 the biggest road bump we had along the way was the transmission shifter for a cab-over. The original transmission had a linkage conversion system that allowed the shifter to pull and push from the side. With the FS5W71C at the back of the KA24DET I didn't want to opt for adapting the original transmission for a number of reasons. Parts availability being the most important and I didn't trust it to hold the horsepower were planning to put down.

Originally I thought this cable driven shifter system from Cablecraft appeared to be the answer to my problems. $1,500 USD later we realized it was a monster and came with complete lack of engineering for our application. It's almost the same size as the transmission itself, didn't mate to anything and would require fabricated adapters to shift with almost no wiggle room on clearance.

We went back the the drawing board and had the shop fabricate a linkage system to work the same as what was on the original transmission.





Video of the shifter test:
http://qms.seed2leaf.com/wp-content/upl ... 276807.mp4

Should hit the dyno next week to tune the Haltech Elite 500. (Decided to ditch the old tech and invest in a new Haltech)

[Seed2Leaf]

Correction: we went with the Haltech Elite 750 series.

[Seed2Leaf]

Excited the truck finished on the Dyno today. 8.7psi netted 249.4whp @5600rpm and 275.8ft-lb torque @ 4100rpm



Going to drive it and break it in then bump up to 12-15psi in the summer. Excited to see how this project is working out.

[Rogue One]

[Thrower78]

Hi,
Does anyone know if the atlas/cabstar/condor 100 or 150 shared components with any other Nissan vehicles such as Navara or patrol? Particularly diffs and front ifs suspension. I'm looking at the 92-95 year range JDM port fire truck.

For example the Toyota equivalent hiace truck shares a lot of components with Hilux and LandCruiser. So being in Australia these parts would be readily available.

Just struggling to find info on the atlas trucks

Thanks, Andrew

[Super Chief]

@Seed2Leaf what was the total expense of this rebuild? I want to upgrade my Atlas 100 currently stock but I was considering something less extreme.

@thrower78 I’ve got a 1989 Atlas firetruck which all the bells and whistles for 15k I’m located in the PNW.

[ka24e510]

Hello Group,

I have a 93 Nissan Atlas F23 quadcab (japanese firetruck) with the NA20s (2.0l) manual trans. It has 22000 Kilometers on it. I have a copy of the service manual in english, i had to purchase from England from a guy (as a download) for $80.00. It is the Nissan factory service manual that covers both gasoline and diesel engines. im in the Southeastern united states.

my mods so far:
stainless steel cup holder
Air conditioning
vacuum idle up solenoid so it does not stall when the A/C is on
Phenolic Carbureator spacer (did not help)
Nissan Xterra wheels with 235/75/15 all terrain tires
9" touch screen audio system with bluetooth, backup camera, apple carplay/android auto
two 4" door speakers, so now i have a 3 speaker audio system
Coolant reservoir/return tank
custom tow hitch

future possible plans: Ka24de swap or Qr25de swap, maybe turbo, regearing the differential (after more horse power)

some valuable resources:
i use this website that has factory part numbers: https://www.partsouq.com/
used parts: https://autoparts.beforward.jp/

[Willfred]

Hi guys have 2009 nissan Atlas double cab. I have duel wheels on the back and single on front, standard wheels. Want to put wider all terrain duel rims on the back but and single but wider all terrains on the front. As the duels are smaller on the back. Does anyone know what size rims, I should change too

[NateLite]

Hi there fellow Atlas owners. @seed2leaf can you recommend an AC unit to install on my 93 firetruck? As far upgrading to 15” Frontier wheels, is there a specific year range of the Frontier I should be looking for? Is 15” the largest we can go without rubbing? Love your build! Super cool. Thanks!

[pauldonovan]

I am so excited to have found you guys!

Thank you for your Atlas posts!!

I just purchased a 1993 Nissan Atlas double cab fire truck w/ 7,000 miles on it.

Although I love the truck I quickly realized it has trouble maintaining the speed limit on highways with any amount of incline.

Anyone with suggestions on how I can add at least 25 or so HP would be greatly appreciated.

A special thanks to Seed2leaf for your engine swap posts.

Also I really appreciate the links to parts suppliers.

Could I purchase a copy of the service manual (in English) from someone?

My truck looks like a modified pickup. I'd like to fit it with a truck bed cover would anyone know if Nissan used the same truck bed on any other models?



Thanks,

Paul

Snohomish, Washington

Hello Group,

I have a 93 Nissan Atlas F23 quadcab (japanese firetruck) with the NA20s (2.0l) manual trans. It has 22000 Kilometers on it. I have a copy of the service manual in english, i had to purchase from England from a guy (as a download) for $80.00. It is the Nissan factory service manual that covers both gasoline and diesel engines. im in the Southeastern united states.

my mods so far:
stainless steel cup holder
Air conditioning
vacuum idle up solenoid so it does not stall when the A/C is on
Phenolic Carbureator spacer (did not help)
Nissan Xterra wheels with 235/75/15 all terrain tires
9" touch screen audio system with bluetooth, backup camera, apple carplay/android auto
two 4" door speakers, so now i have a 3 speaker audio system
Coolant reservoir/return tank
custom tow hitch

future possible plans: Ka24de swap or Qr25de swap, maybe turbo, regearing the differential (after more horse power)

some valuable resources:
i use this website that has factory part numbers: https://www.partsouq.com/
used parts: https://autoparts.beforward.jp/
Atlas1.JPG

[pauldonovan]

Might any know if Nissan used the same truck bed that I have on my 1993 Atlas (see attached photo) on any other model truck?
I'd like to have a tonneau cover installed but manufacturers want to know what model truck I have.
They don't list Atlas Fire trucks as an option. :-)

Thanks,
Paul
Snohomish Washington

[Seed2Leaf]

Got the Atlas back up and running after doing an aluminum box install. Curb weight currently sits at 2020kg without me inside and a full tank of fuel.

1200kg on the rear axle unloaded. (No payload)

We upgraded the fuel system to a fuelsafe cell because the original tank in these trucks made it difficult for the long drives required in western Canada work life.

Currently getting 13L/100km on sprinted highway driving. Running 91 octane fuel.

[AZhitman]

OK, this is one of the coolest threads on the board in a while... LOVE IT!

[Seed2Leaf]

My obsession continues. It's been a while since I posted and well, I bought another F23 double cab chassis. The plan for this one will also be a KA24DET but we're likely going to use a cd009 adapter kit meshed to an automatic transmission out of a 350z.

I picked up a dulley unit and didn't realize I was looking at 12" skinny rims that are next to impossible to find tires for and a bolt pattern that makes rim shopping difficult. We opted to take a 7.625 rear end with a 4.10 gear ratio diff out of a 95 blazer ($300CAD) and throw a used set of 18" gram lights and some Yokohama Geolander ATs ($1000CAD) and a wildwood brake kit ($1400 CAD).

We added an extra leaf to hold the weight and duplicated our aluminum box setup. I feel like the extra leaf means my front end suspension now needs a 2" lift. Sounds like that will require some custom spindles. Not sure yet how this will be done. It's not super necessary but it would level things out.

7.625 - we're only tuning to 275hp. Which is plenty for this truck. I found this link for instructions on how to beef up the rear axle the best a person can. https://www.thirdgen.org/beefinguprear/. Also, we're not drag racing and dropping clutches so it should be able to manage fine. The build has to keep us under 3,000kg unloaded because our highway restrictions are 4,500kg anything after that and we're consider commercial vehicles and have to do drivers logs, inspections and headaches. Throwing a ford 9 inch in just doesn't make sense.

Pictures below...

[Seed2Leaf]

A side by side comparison. Got to go back to the deck manufacturer and get rear boxes put on.

[Rogue One]

Great photos, thanks for the update!

[Dbarry]

My obsession continues. It's been a while since I posted and well, I bought another F23 double cab chassis. The plan for this one will also be a KA24DET but we're likely going to use a cd009 adapter kit meshed to an automatic transmission out of a 350z.

I picked up a dulley unit and didn't realize I was looking at 12" skinny rims that are next to impossible to find tires for and a bolt pattern that makes rim shopping difficult. We opted to take a 7.625 rear end with a 4.10 gear ratio diff out of a 95 blazer ($300CAD) and throw a used set of 18" gram lights and some Yokohama Geolander ATs ($1000CAD) and a wildwood brake kit ($1400 CAD).

We added an extra leaf to hold the weight and duplicated our aluminum box setup. I feel like the extra leaf means my front end suspension now needs a 2" lift. Sounds like that will require some custom spindles. Not sure yet how this will be done. It's not super necessary but it would level things out.

7.625 - we're only tuning to 275hp. Which is plenty for this truck. I found this link for instructions on how to beef up the rear axle the best a person can. https://www.thirdgen.org/beefinguprear/. Also, we're not drag racing and dropping clutches so it should be able to manage fine. The build has to keep us under 3,000kg unloaded because our highway restrictions are 4,500kg anything after that and we're consider commercial vehicles and have to do drivers logs, inspections and headaches. Throwing a ford 9 inch in just doesn't make sense.

Pictures below...

That's a cool rig! Nice project

[Seed2Leaf]

Here's a guy who did a Doug style review of his F23. I don't have any 24v in mine.

[Saltpilot]

I have found a F23 Nissan Atlas Cabstar Manuel in English. It is a large file so needing advice on how to post. Maybe easier to send via e-mail.

[Rogue One]

I have found a F23 Nissan Atlas Cabstar Manuel in English. It is a large file so needing advice on how to post. Maybe easier to send via e-mail.

You can upload the file to a free file hosting site, then post a link here.

[ka24e510]

So, I've been a busy boy.

New mods: QR25DE engine swap including auto trans from a 2018 Frontier, runs perfect. I rewired the factory harness, Ecm, Tcm, Bcm, and have an OBD II connector for diagnostic.

Regeared rear differential (ring and pinion) 3.90 ratio, was 5.86 ratio. Now I am at 3000 rpm at 75mph.

Digital/GPS speedometer/odometer.

Maybe I should have taken more pics of the process, but I can take some and post some here in the near future.

[ka24e510]

The 1st pic is of the engine placed into the chassis.

The 2nd pic is of the engine after 1st startup with the custom aluminum intake manifold shining through. driver side seat is removed for this shot.

I tried to attach a short vid, but i cannot size it small enough for Nico to accept it.

[Rogue One]

ka24e510 are you able upload the original video to YouTube? You could then post a link here.

[Seed2Leaf]

So, I've been a busy boy.

New mods: QR25DE engine swap including auto trans from a 2018 Frontier, runs perfect. I rewired the factory harness, Ecm, Tcm, Bcm, and have an OBD II connector for diagnostic.

Regeared rear differential (ring and pinion) 3.90 ratio, was 5.86 ratio. Now I am at 3000 rpm at 75mph.

Digital/GPS speedometer/odometer.

Maybe I should have taken more pics of the process, but I can take some and post some here in the near future.

Very interesting build! These truck 100% need boost or displacement. interesting to see your gas mileage... Why did you go with QR25DE? versus an RB25, SR20 or KA24DE?