shern

iTrader: (6)

Mark

I've attached a picture of a Soarer/Chaser R154 transmission with the swan style shifter **edited** not a swan style shifter Thanks LEXpert! Can you point out the 2 OEM parts you ordered. Are you positive they will bolt up to the JZA70 R154? It seems as though it will take more than 2 parts plus the shifter to turn the JZA70 R154 into the swan style shifter?

LEXpert

that's not a swan style box

i'll go find a pic of one, and post that up

shern

iTrader: (6)

Looks like a Soarer R154 transmission to me.

LEXpert

there's early soarer, which is swan style, and late soarer, which has a remote gearshift, like the one you posted

here's the swan version, sorry I don't have a better pic.

look at the plate where the gear shift comes out, and look at the swan neck in the gear shift it's self.



and for comparison, this trans is from an MA or JZA70

note the gearshift, and the plate where it comes out



look at the relation of the rear most set of bolts on the plate, to where the gearshift sits.

Blizzy

iTrader: (-1)

Shern...

That is not the Soarer R154 with the swan neck shifter which ran in the JZZ30 from 91-93. That is the remote shifter housing, straight bar shifter which ran in the JZZ30 and JZX90 (Chaser) from 94-00.

To make my transmission look like that, I would have to replace my entire tail section. I am not interested in that in the least.

I received my two parts from Toyota Japan tonight. I am super pumped. My preliminary sizing up of the parts has me totally excited for the results that are to follow.

My preliminary estimations:
- The shifter housing (the piece with three bolts on either side of the shifter that protects the inners of the transmission) is ~2" longer than the MK3 shifter housing. The bolts line up perfectly.

- The shifter geometry of the Soarer short shifter I have purchased appears no different from the shifter geomtry of the MK3 shifter. I will have to take more extensive measurements to confirm this, but I am somewhat confident that the MK3 shifter could be used with the two parts I have received from Japan to make the MK3 R154 work with the SC.

- The second part from Japan is a shift control lever. Under the shifter housing is a small extension of the main trans tail shaft into which the shifter itself locks in. This piece is corresspondingly longer, and all of one bolt to swap the piece in and out.

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Tomorrow night, I will have extensive measurements.

In the meantime, check out these photos:
1. Here is Allen's R154 (Blk97SC300). Notice the length of the shifter housing and the geometry of the shifter itself.


2. Here is the extension that lemmiewinks had custom done on his shifter housing so that his R154 could accomodate the SC. The length of this extension looks IDENTICAL to the piece that I got from Toyota Japan for ~$60.


3. Here is my swan-neck short shifter for the 91-93 JZZ30 Soarer with the swan neck shifter. The geometry appears identical to that of the MK3 shifter. In fact, the instuctions for the shifter has directions for both the JZZ30 and the JZA70 (MK3): the part numbers are the same from C's.


4. This is a great photo of where the MK3 trans will sit in the SC without any extending. The forward gears are all accessible, but the shifter will contact the bar between the shifter and the ash tray with every shift.


What does this mean? Perhaps ~$70 and a JZ bellhousing is all that is standing in the way of a USDM MK3 R154 (~$200 and good for ~600wtq) fitting into an SC, whereas an authentic Soarer R154 goes for $1200-1500. I will have measurements to confirm this tomorrow.

shern

iTrader: (6)

Understood!

So the early JZZ30 R154s had a longer shifter housing and shifter control lever in addition the "swan style" shifter rod to bring the shift **** position back. I understand now and see how the 2 parts you ordered allows you to retro! Amazing.

If you could reuse the MK3 shifter, well that's even better!

BTW, I appreciate all the pathfinding you're doing Blizzy. Once you nail it down, I plan to start my conversion also. I almost bought a R154 with the remote shifter housing but may hold off for now.

joewitafro

Let us know tomorrow Blizzy, if we can skip the C's shifter and use the supra mk3, that would be a LOT cheaper!

ScottURnot

iTrader: (33)

Mark, Good stuff indeed! Cant imagine why you didnt go the $6500-9000 Getrag route

This thread is all about the everyday SC400 owner that wants to mod on a budget. I am starting to wonder why I went with the 6 speed

My car is waiting on a custom driveshaft at the moment but soon I should have one of the only supercharged 6 speed SC400's in the US.

I truly admire the research you are doing to help everyone build a performance SC400. Keep it up,and get the tranny done for Texas!

BTW, Are you moved in that new house yet?

Blizzy

iTrader: (-1)

Thanks for the kind words as always.

I am not in the house yet. Closing is 2/22, and the last date for possession change is 3/10. The first day I am able to get into the house, I will pull the SC from storage and put it up on stands in the garage.

The trans swap will absolutely be done for Texas. I am hoping to get the supercharger done as well. I have ordered a couple essentials for the project in the meantime as I still wait a headunit to arrive to superchargerrebuilds.com. I am committed to the Powerdyne unit for its value, silent operation, and ease of install. $1050 for a rebuilt headunit with full race bearings to spin over 42k rpm and make ~12psi is a ridiculous deal.

By the way, having a sixth speed will probably be worth every penny. The fun of that additional gear will make for a truly kick *** driving experience. No one in their right mind could complain of not having an available gear ratio with a supercharged 4L and six gear options.

Pictures tomorrow... I need to go write a Geometry test for tomorrow...

You have likely saved yourself over a grand. Stay tuned for tomorrow night's measurements...

Blizzy

iTrader: (-1)

I wish I could find my camera. Pictures are worth a thousand words. I will get pictures once I find the camera.

The Summary
The shifters are of identical geometry from the MK3 Supra to the early version JZZ30 Soarer. The MK3 shifter I have in my possession would work just as well as my C's from Japan. Nevertheless, it was $270 well spent.

This brings the sum of the differences between the USDM MK3 R154 and the early version Soarer trans to:
- shifter housing ($60)
- shift lever ($16)
- bellhousing ($300)

The dimension on the extension is 1 1/8". I was expecting more, but I kept coming up with 1 1/8" no matter how I measured it. Both the shifter housing and the shift lever are 1.125" longer than the corresponding MK3 pieces.

The MK3 R154 and early version Soarer R154 are practically twins, which is great news. Every 1JZ/2JZ guy tip toeing the limits of the W58 now has no reason but to take the plunge on an R154 to harness more power.

joewitafro

GREAT NEWS BLIZZY!!! Talk about cutting the costs down for the R154 Lexus swap!!

For any one who doesnt know.. If you are Auto, and going to manual.. you can use the Mk3 supra clutch pedal + master cyclinder aswell. And since mk3's are a dime a dozen, parts for this swap will be easy to get!

Knightridr

wow reading this on my only day off was worth it. I read this from start to finish at my desk like i was watching a movie. I feel 2 times smarter now. But having a 5speed in the sc would be lovley but I will keep the atx. But I will do the tt rear end,the upgraded converter, and a bottle for a lil fun and games. You gentle men are an inspirational to us all. Giving us hope that anything and everything is possible. We are still just dreamers but you guys are like genies. I give hands down for all your hard work and bow at your feet for your accomplishments and beautiful write ups. Can't wait to see you all in person.

P.s. grats on the house. Its a wonderful feeling when owning your own home. Mainly when you have a car worthy enough to park in it.

shern

iTrader: (6)

Cha Ching! That's the news I was hoping to hear. I will begin my roundup of parts for the R154 and start my conversion soon. Good thing too because my W58 is really starting to whine.

Thanks for all the pathfinding you did! Check's in the mail.

Blizzy

iTrader: (-1)

Thanks for the kind words.

Not surprisingly, this project of mine would not be possible without the inspiration offered by a number of the Club Lexus guys: Scott, Ryan, David, and Eric come to mind as guys that have given me the necessary motivation to take my car to the level that I will be.

It is awesome to hear that I am offering the community some semblance of motivation because of this project. It is all a tribute to the guys who took me over the hump.

As for the house, I am super excited. Closing is in 11 days. I am getting anxious. With a healthy 40mpg daily driver in hand, the SC will be up on stands within days of moving in.

My goal is to have the 5spd w/3.27 TRD done when the weather breaks. My ambitious goal is to have the supercharger running low boost by V8-08 in May. Superchargerrebuilds.com is about the only think holding me back as they are my source for the ultra rare CCW rotation Powerdyne headunit that I desire to put on my car.

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To everyone else looking for pictures of the trans extension pieces, I still need to locate my digital camera. I know I brought it home with me from East Lansing the weekend before last. It has to be somewhere in my room, in my travel bag, or in the car. I will give a valiant serach effort when I find the time to make sure I can get pictures uploaded of the trans conversion pieces.

Blizzy

iTrader: (-1)

Ok guys...I finally found the camera. It was in my bookbag the whole time. I forgot that I was grading chemistry exams the morning of the Super Bowl when I was up in East Lansing. I had been turning my closet and car upside down since I thought it must had fallen out of my suitcase somewhere between the car and my room.

I have pictures of some new goodies in addition to the transmission conversion parts from Toyota Japan that entend the shifter location on a MK3 R154 by 1.125" in order to suit the Soarer/SC. First, the goodies....

This is a 0-60psi boost gauge that KS95SC400 purchased for his project but did not like since it did not start turn on its digital output until 5psi. I am going to use this as a fuel pressure gauge for the simple and clever fuel system that I intend to use for my supercharger...details on that will come later:


This is a 0-10psi TRD Boost Gauge that is in the original box with the original fittings. I stole this on the Supraforums classifieds for $40. The plastic A-pillar piece is for a Tacoma. I am going to scrap that and mount the gauge in a pod near the stock fuel level gauge:


This is a stock TT bypass valve. I have been looking for one of these on Supraforums for some time. When one popped up for $20, I jumped on it. Everything I have read about the valve makes me confident that it will be reliable at avoiding compressor surge for this application:


This is the 3.26 rear end from Gazi. He is such a valuable resource. I can't thank him enough for always being there with strange and uncommon OEM Lexus parts:


This is the inside of a differential suited with a TRD LSD. I am thrilled to have gotten this for under $900 after shipping. The 4.27 gears that it is attached to will be swapped for the 3.26 gears from the GS400 differential that Gazi got me. If you were curious, the current Torsen LSD is spoken for, sorry...