OK, reviewing pics that I have, been sent to me, etc. and info that is on here, I have established a few things.
1. MK1 chassis: the manual trans chassis mounts (the parts welded to the car) are not only in
different locations vs automatic trans mounts, they are
arranged differently, IE one side is higher up in the chassis than the other.
MK1 automatic crossmember (shown here modified to work with an S13 manual transmission)
MK1 manual crossmember (shown here modified to work with an S13 manual transmission)
^notice how the MK1 manual crossmember is on one plane only- one side isn't offset like the MK1 automatic crossmember.
2. MK2 chassis: Nissan got smarter, and used the same basic layout for both manual and automatic transmissions. The actual crossmember itself is
almost the same between the manual and auto cars, as shown here:
^notice the outer portion is the same, but the center section varies depending on the
actual rubber mount that bolts to the transmission.
BUT the
location is still different- the automatic trans mounting is further towards the rear, basically directly underneath the shifter, and the manual trans mounting is further forward, about 6inches from the shifter hole.
....... I am trying to figure out what that difference is, exactly.
THIS IS MK2
manual(metal thing is fork of forklift, this is jyard car, pic courtesy of sinestro)
automatic
^notice how the actual mounting locations themselves are set further back in the chassis. Instead of being forward of the shift hole, they are basically dead center under the hole.