BACKGROUND

First, I'd like to thank the Club Lexus Community for the wealth of knowledge provided for DIYers.

I purchased a MK3 R154 about 6 months ago for a decent price: $350. I had intentions on tackling the R154 swap this summer. There was no rush since my W58 ran fine. However, a few months ago, my clutch started slipping and my rear main seal started leaking at the same time. Go figure. All of a sudden, the R154 swap was mandatory. However, I pushed it off a few months for Toyotafest and the Dub Show (PHX). I barely got the car home from Dub Show.

DETAILS

As mentioned, I did a TON of pre-work for the swap. With all of the research, here is what I settled on from a parts point of view.

• Used Mk3 7M R154 transmission
• Used MK3 front half drive shaft
• Used Mk3 release hub
• Brand New OEM JZ-R154 flywheel
• Brand new OEM JZ-R154 bellhousing
• Brand new OEM Rear Main Seal
• Brand new OEM flywheel and pressure plate bolt set
• Brand new ACT Heavy Duty Clutch Kit w/ 6 puck sprung disk Model #TS2-HDG6
• Brand new OEM Soarer shifter extension for swan style shifter Thanks Blizzy
• Brand new OEM Mk3 slave cylinder
• Brand new OEM washers, wave washers and clips for throwout bearing
• Brand new OEM Mk3 hard clutch line and hose

SHIFTER EXTENSION

Everybody eyeing the R154 swap into the SC knows the complications surrounding the shifter location. Because my W58 was a pre-96 swan style shifter, the only option for me was to do with right with the Soarer extension. I was able to acquire the two parts to retrofit the transmission to the Soarer extended shifter.

Part Numbers:

• Housing, Shifter 33521-24040
• Control Shift Lever 33570-24010

Here are the two parts and the original lever for comparison:



Here is what the transmission looked like after I swapped the parts in:



SPEED SENSOR

For those that may not know, the Supra MK3 used a mechanical speed sensor with a cable to the speedo cluster. The SC300 uses an electrical speed sensor. Below, you can see the two speed sensors.

The Mk3 R154 has a tiny little external bracket that holds the sensor in, the W58 has the bracket attached



There has been talk on multiple forums about people using the W58 electrical speed sensor on the R154 while creating a bracket to hold it in. That was the original plan for me. However, the number of teeth between the R154 did not line up with the number of teeth on the W58 (33 teeth vs. 32 teeth). Therefore, I decided to use the Marlin Crawler mechanical to electrical speed sensor adapter. Apparently, it screws right onto the mechanical sending unit and converts it to the 3 wire electrical speed sensor wiring on most Toyotas.

Marlin Crawler mechanical to electrical speed sensor adapter



TEAR DOWN

Here is the SC on DONK status without the 30s:



Here is the full exhaust system removed for access to the transmission:



Harbor Freight Transmission Jack! Worth it's weight in gold!

 

Mk3 propeller half-shaft vs. SC300 half-shaft. The Mk3 is the chode and a hair shorter.




W58 vs. R154

Here you can see the differences between the two transmissions. The R154 with the Soarer extension places the shifter in the exact location as the W58. The hole should line up exactly.

W58 pulled on that magical Harbor Freight Transmission Jack



W58 vs. R154



W58 shifter



R154 Soarer shifter extension



New Rear Main Seal and Pilot Bearing



New JZ-R154 flywheel with new OEM flywheel bolts (loctite'd and sealed)

 

CLUTCH

After about a month of research on the "best" clutch kit to use, I decided on the ACT HD clutch kit with 6 puck sprung disk. I went back on forth on the ACT, RPS and HPF Bronze/Ferramic and decided the ACT gave me exactly what I needed at the best price. I am currently at 310wtq on stock twins with intentions of going single in the near future. The ACT HD kit holds 522 lb/ft all day which should be enough even when I go single. Plus, I didn't want to destroy my transmission with something too stiff because I like those 7500rpm drops

ACT clutch kit with new JZ-R154 flywheel:



Below is the throwout bearing / hub assembly installed on the ACT pressure plate. I used all new washers/clips on this install. The clips were a biatoch to get on.

ACT pressure plate with throwout bearing installed



Thought you'd like to see my old clutch. It's FINISHED!

 

Damn that old clutch is TOAST!!! Looks like it'll be worth the work in the end though. Good luck to you!

 

nice work shern. was your clutch goin out when we were in long beach? after we took the pics at the beach it sounded like it was slippin.

 

lol that's one roasted clutch. I bet you were pretty itchy after getting that old piece of crap out!

 

nice write up shern love your car

 

Oh so sexy, I can't wait till I get a r154.

 

Nice write up. I think this should be stickied! Anyways I cant beleive you did this in todays heat at 108. Your crazy. Nice car, ive always wanted to see it in person. You should make it out to the Pavs sometime in the near future.

 

Quick question: i see that you bought new bolts for the clutch pressure plate. Why couldn't you use the bolts for the W58 clutch? Can they be used?

 

YEZZUR. I could barely get around out in Long Beach.

Oh man. I was sweating my azz off mang. It was the worst. I plan on continuing this week. Supposed to cool off a bit towards the end of the week. I'll be out at the Pavs once I'm rolling again.

Never reuse flywheel bolts. Not sure if they are Torque-To-Yield but it's not a wise thing especially considering they are so cheap.

 

I know flywheel bolts yes, but pressure plate bolts (the bolts that fasten the pressure plate to the flywheel). Those are not torque to yield bolts.

 

Those clutch hub clips are indeed a major B%$ to work with.

That clutch ought to be great!

Look's really good man.

 

Blah, I blasted through your original post. Sorry.

New pressure plate bolts (6) cost $4.56. Not worth using the old ones at that price.

 

good write-up...were the rivets flush with the pads on the old one