Since the price of a Getrag is compareable to a Precision Industries TQ, I'm toying with the idea of doing an SC400 manual instead. Question now is:

Which is more advantageous to the SC400 in 1/4 mile acceleration, a 5-speed or 6-speed?

Are the Getrag 5-speeds for GM trucks and BMW 3s the same as the 5-speeds in the SC300?

What is the level of difficulty in doing a conversion? Shift column retrofit, clutch pedal retrofit, tranny ecu, tranny mounts, bellhousing clearance, gauge cluster, etc? I have a feeling interfacing the tranny ecu will be the biggest problem .

Along with the previous question, how much do you estimate the labor hours and cost would be for the entire conversion? I can shop for garages to get the best rates after I get a ballpark idea.

I have a feeling a manual transmission will unleash the true feel of 250bhp and 260btq from our motors. I'm willing to go the extra mile if the whole project is feasible/practical.

 

The SC3 manual is a Toyota W58. Several places in Australia make kits to put it on a 1UZFE. Then you need pedal box, crossmember, driveshaft mod and ECU solution. The W58 isn't terribly strong, but it will stand up to the stock 1UZ easily.

 

Hey Fred, thanks for the info. Could you point me to a good place/website in Austrailia that sells these 1UZ kits? Has anyone over there actually completed the conversion? I'd like to get in touch with them if so, just to get an idea on logistics, cost, time, etc.

 

the true speed of the SC4 would be unleashed with a manual tranny

stock vs stock the SC3 5-speed is a hair faster in my experience... but if the SC4 had a manual; you're looking at a large horsepower increase just from the increase in transmission efficiency
it'd be quite ferocious indeed i'm betting mid 14s possible from the mere swap otherwise stock
with boltons you're looking at low 14s maybe high 13s

 

What model is the Supra Getrag? I'm looking on ebay and they have such models as the Getrag NV3500 (GM)and Getrag 360 (Dodge).

 

Dellow Automotive (watch out, I have heard they got the bellhousing slightly wrong)
Castlemaine Rod Shop

I only know of one guy who has done it. He fitted a 1UZ to a Mk3 Supra. There is no "kit" as such. The transmission shops will sell you just the correct stuff to get the transmission on the engine I believe. After that, you have some work left to do. If you don't know a lot about transmissions, talk to a transmission shop near you. It's no small task. I am dreading it.

The Supra 6 speed Getrag is V160 or V161. I don't know anyone that makes a bellhousing to put that on a 1UZ. I am looking at the R154. It is the strong 5 speed fitted to the 1JZ Soarer, the 1JZ Mk3 Supra and the 7MGTE Mk3 Supra. Not exactly sure what I will do about the bellhousing either. Perhaps I will look at having Castlemaine Rod Shop cast a bellhousing and sell a bunch to other SC4 owners looking to use this box.

 

you're most economical option is to put the W58 or the R154 (MKIII turbo tranny) on there
the V160 is VERY expensive and i'm not sure if there's an adapter for it because i don't think the australian market got a lot of those

 

I've been looking at the Borg Warner T-45,with an aftermarket hydraulic slave cylinder added,would still need to adapt the bellhousing(hopefully with just a plate),make a flywheel with that setup.The tranny ecu shouldn't bee too much of a problem in an obd I car.
The cost of doing such a swap would be enormous at a shop,unless you had EVERYTHING totally planned out,and laid in front of them.You can hang the clutch pedal/master cylinder way in advance,I did that on my last tranny swap project.

 

The V160 is like $5000USD brand new, right? Someone is selling a low mielage V160 in the classifieds for $1600. I think he's in San Francisco too. Just looking at the massive tranny, I can tell it will be a b!tch fitting that thing in our car. So much for that. I think a 5-speed would be plenty enough. I'm not planning on 600hp anyway.

SCV8, this adaptor plate of yours, wouldn't it push the tranny back a little? Would that have an effect on the position of the shift column? I'm assuming a new driveshaft is in order either way. I don't know where the tranny ecu is located, but I was under the impression that it was bunched with the engine ecu. Is that the case or are they two completely seperate units?

 

Actually I just remembered Todd Matsubara is building a drag SC400. I'm curious to see what he's doing for a transmission. If he isn't using a drag tranny, I might have to cop his model!

 

Rich, this is a very interesting idea. I look forward to seeing any further developments from this

 

is it possible that you could buy the sc3 transmission from an OEM dealer and get a transmission specialist to work on it? i bet i could get the transmission for less that 1k... all i need to know is how much the rest of the work would be? any ideas?

currently have 800 bucks =( (to waste of course)

 

Well that's currently the plan . If I see a good deal for the Toyota W58 somewhere, I'll probably just pick it up. I figure if they can make the 4-speed work on both SC300 and SC400, AND the 5-speed works on the SC300, then it would only make logical sense that the 5-speed works on the SC400 also. The question is whether or not the 4-speed the SC300 has the exact same interface as the 4-speed for the SC400.

 

I'm pretty sure he'll use a drag automatic... but he seems willing to help us out if someone comes up witht he cash to get all the parts talked about it with him before... I'm really interested... but not yet $7000 or so interested if ya know what I mean

I'm definitely looking for a way to get rid of this cursed slushbox

 

Quote (originally posted by Carnal_c30): "I'm definitely looking for a way to get rid of this cursed slushbox"


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