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Yesterday, i had time to install the Recaro seats. I adapted the wiring for the seats. The original wiring manual is gold for this. i installed a seperate relays under the seat. The button from the seat have a light, but this is on every time, when i use the original power wires from the stock seats. Now, i switch with the ignition+ (was original for the seat ecu) the relays to turn on the seats. For the passenger side, you need a wire from the kick panel board to have the ignition+. this solution is better as a empty battery after some days.
stock seats for remember
passenger seat removed
ready for wiring
backseats removed to lay the cable from the backup camera in the trunk
passenger side in!
start with the driver side
driver side installed!
The sitting position should be like the Supra seats now, according to the installation manual from the Recaro consoles for this seats. I´m 5ft11 tall and now i can use the helmet for the track without touching the headliner. I think there is around 1 inch space between. before, i have seen the hood, now i see only the wiper arm.
Now, the SC feels like a sports car, not a limousine more. I´m very happy and maybe i can do some miles with the new seats before the winter comes tomorrow.
The spring is back, time to work on my SC. Things to do:
Replace the 11lbs lightflywheel with a modified XAT Racing 20 lbs 4 oz flywheel. i reduced the weight on a lathe to 16,5lbs. then dynamically balanced to 0,18g (0,00635oz). Also i change the Spec Stage 5 pressure plate to a ACT heavy duty plate with my Stage 2 disc. Open the gearbox (W58) and check the reverse gear, this has been very loud since the last revision. I think, the secondary shaft part number is ending of 1 (modified part) and my reverse gears are 0. Last year, i bought a set if new reverse gears suitable to my secondary shaft.
Today, i started to remove the gearbox, tomorrow, i think the box is removed and the flywheel changed
Clutch lines disconnected
exhaust removed, oil drained
TRD shifter removed... the box is ready to remove!
The new flywheel and pressureplate is installed. The gearbox disassembled to change the reverse gear gears.
old flywheel
parts collection
Spec vs ACT pressure plate, the look indentical, but i think the are different. The spec is a Stage 5 plate, the ACT a heavy duty, not the extreme
new 7,5kg flywheel installed
installed 14mm deep bearing for the W58 gearbox. I think, this is the correct position for the input shaft.
Distance between the engine block and starter gear (sorry, maybe not the correct word) is 6,5mm. The lightflywheel needs the bolt plate from the AT starter gear to fit correct.
gearbox disassembled
the reverse gears looks little different, i measured, the new one are 3/10mm smaller. the new one have also the ending number 1 like the new installed counter shaft. i hope, with this change, the noise from the reverse gear is back to normal.
Thanks Kahn!
i think, its difficult to find oem parts for the R154. Maybe Toyota begins to rebuild parts with the GR Heritage Parts Project GR Heritage Homepage
My W58 is complete rebuild. The reverse gears now changed and the a really different! here some picture from my work. I bought last year a original Toyota gearbox SST for the 5th-gear for all 4/5-Gear rwd boxes. Best tool for this work.
The new gears installed, but i installed the top shift fork wrong way around this is possible, but not good. The front housing will not fit correctly.
But, easy to fix, bolt removed, fork rotated and bolt back.
Back in my car!
clutch lines bleeded
and TRD shifter installed back a screw fell into the side of the panel... a telescopic magnetic pick up is wonderful!
now time for the first test! all gears ok, clutch works fine!
Yesterday was the first test drive with this setup. The clutch needs to be adjust, but she works fine and open complete, only the pressure point is very low.
The biggest problem was the loud reverse gear. This one is now more than quiet. It is quiter than the original with the new gears, not audible! the gearbox works perfectly. The clutch is now smooth and no more tricky. The upgrade to the ACT heavy duty pressure plate instead the Spec Stage 5 was the best idea. With the 7,5kg flywheel is the SC now luxurios again but still sporty at the same time. The rev drops not so fast with the 5kg (11lbs) flywheel and not so slow as with the 9kg (20lbs). i think, he have more torque in the lower revs. i would like to go on a bigger trip the next few days to collect new impressions.
2 weeks ago, i was on a 2h driver safety training for the track with 1h test drive on the Red Bull Track here in Austria. This was very funny, i´m suprised how good is my suspension on the track. The field of participants was well mixed. Young and old drivers, BMW M2 Competition, Maserati Quattroporte, Cupra Formentor VZ5, Golf GTI R, a Polo and my SC400.
This is the driving center
And this the topography of the Red Bull Ring. Anything else, but not flat
A other group doing tire change on a F1 car
My group on the way to the circular path (?) is a very slippy underground, first test for over- and understeering tests, later with water...and drifting
After 2 hours in the car with short bresaks for a drink is time to start on the track! The trainer did 2-3 introductory laps with us before we were allowed to drive ourselves. My topspeed on the straight parts was near 115mph.
some right turns...
finally, this was a great day, perfect weather, a very good trainer and very nice participants
One week later, it was time for a timing belt job. The last was changed 13 years ago. Now, the belt have 14000miles. Not much. But better to change as a damaged engine.
Best tool to hold the Balancer in place
water removed from the radiator to remove the upper hose.... i used the LS400 manual from this forum to replace my belt.
time for a break
original water pump looks fine
This is the mark for the timing belt!
Old belt from Gates, looks like new!
new oem parts, belt, tensioner and pulleys.
correct position of the belt on the crankshaft
right bank
years ago, a had a problem with a bad spark plug on the right bank. you can see a little defect. I had both rotors in stock and renewed them. left old, right new.
My vehicle finisher cleaned last year the engine bay. The rearmost spark plugs got water . time to order 2 new plugs. the are ok, but rusty.
Best solution to bolt the a/c compressor back
DIY 14mm tool to remove the RH ignition coil.
The car runs now again, time for a short testdrive.
this is possible, but not good. The front housing will not fit correctly.
. time to order 2 new plugs. the are ok, but rusty.
