So I bought a 1992 lexus with 110k miles body is clean as of now its at 129k since it's my daily. Question is the sc400 worth modding because of its auto transmission or should I sell it and get a manual sc300/is300? Looking at others but there overpriced and rundown making me want to think twice about doing it. Manual conversion for sc400 for me seems to much custom fabrication and cost so I won't be going manual on it. I also live in California so engine mods will be minimal as everything is illegal here:/ so if the car will be most likely stock engine is getting a manual even worth it or should I keep the auto...?

 

There is a company called Collins adapters that make kits where you can swap in a manual fairly easy. They make kits any where from a ka24de trans from a Nissan 240sx and a cd00 series from a 350z/370z and a few others. I'm personally going to be using the kit for the ka24de trans in my 92 sc400. I don't plan doing anything crazy to the car to make power so the 240sx trans will fit my personal needs.

 

i had heard of the manual swaps using w58 and those you mentioned just never looked into a kit but i checked them out it's a good deal thank man. Il definitely be going that route then , did you swap yet if so how has it hold up? Ive heard of these trannys blowing?

 

Do you know what kind of power the KA trans can take though?

 

it will handle the stock power of a 1uzfe. If your planing on making more power than stock you may want to look into a cd009 trans swap or a r154. I'd stay away from the w58 they don't hold up very well

 

Just read on a 240sx forum that these KA trans can take up 400hp, but not more details for that information to be comforting or reliable. While for me the CD009 is the choice I'd really like to go with, because I personally plan on going a little past 330 wheel to make the car a little more lively, but again, everyone's saying that the CD trans will be terrible to fit with it's huge bell housing and I'm not entirely sure how much Collins pieces would help on that part. And in terms of r154, I literally can't find one in my area.

 

I have a bunch of friends that all own either a 240 sx or Z, and they all have all swapped to a 300zx twin turbo 5 speed trans. Apparently, those are good for 800 whp as well, and one of them made 870 on it. But none of the 240sx guys ever tried making power on the stock 5 speed KA trans because it usually had issues prior to converting to making any power off a single turbo setup haha

 

I've been curious about swapping in a z32 trans into a sc400 but I haven't been able to find anything on the 300zx swap into the sc400

 

The KA/SR transmission is glass. I've heard the CD0009 [Z33 tranny] is ideal. Decent amount of clutch options, they hold pretty good and they're easy to find. You'll regret going KA/SR. They're cheaper but you'll blow right through them.

P.S. This is the wrong section to ask questions in.