Wednesday, February 04, 2009 - 04:35 pm, by: Richard Ferrara(426440)
Hi Guys,
Not sure if this has been covered already (searching over the net turns up heaps of bits and pieces of information but nothing complete) so I thought I would document it here.
Not long ago I purchased a JZZ30 soarer, black with all options (MINUS A MANUAL TRANSMISSION!!). As most auto owners know, the stock auto transmission is not too fun to drive. For those with the know how or
coin usually throw it out and replace with either a W58 or R154. I chose the R154 due to the fact that most people advise it can take far greater punishment/horsepower than the W58 for those of us with less
self control.
I purchased my "R154 conversion kit" from the toy shop (http://www.japimports.com.au/). This cost $2490 ($3500 if I were to get it delivered from Newcastle to Goulburn) and included :-
ALL PARTS ARE FROM A JZA70 SUPRA (They do sometimes get soarer manual cuts but are more expensive, usually around the $3.5k mark)
Upon inspecting my kit and doing a bit of research it turns out that a few bits are incompatible (correct me if I am wrong) and some were quite worn out (as to be expected from a second hand unit out of a
supra).
1. The JZA70 drive shaft cannot be used so you must extend your stock auto drive shaft by 50mm and use that. I sent both front and rear piece to M&A Engineering in Phillip, ACT to be lengthened and balanced
(YOU MUST BALANCE IT!!!). This set me back $370.
2. The JZA70 Brake Pedal Box CANNOT be used. This can be picked up from Toyota (mine had to come from Japan) for $85. Part number 47101-24030
3. The JZA70 Clutch Pedal Box is quite similar to the JZZ30 Clutch Pedal Box and can be used.
4. The JZA70 master cylinder cannot be used, a new master cylinder should always be used anyway (if you can afford it) to ensure the seals are still good! Part number 31410-14310
6. The JZA70 Slave cylinder can be used, however I replaced it with a new one (cheap as sh!t). You can purchase one from toyota or for MUCH less $ you can get one from
11. Now on to the actual gearbox itself, you can just throw it in but I decided to have some work done to it. After some research it appears as though the weak point of this box is the 1st gear thrust washer. A cheap part to buy but expensive to repair if it fails (1st gear is usually destroyed if it fails and is priced at $600 from Toyota). I purchased an aftermarket Marlin Crawler thrust washer from
13. While you have the gearbox off the engine its a good idea to replace the rear main engine seal, part number 90311-90006
14. The JZA70 R154 is NOT remote shift, so the shifter mechanism will need to either be "goose necked" or cut and re-welded.
As you can see I purchased a lot of stuff off driftmotion, I thought while I am placing the order I may as well get everything from one place to save hassles however a lot of this stuff can be purchased from
Toyota locally.
This is where I am at so far as a lot of parts are still on order. As soon as they come in I will get stuck into the conversion and take heaps of pics.
Everyone feel free to jump in and correct anything!
but i bought a whole car for the manual box (ended up cheaper than finding all the parts seperatly!)
also refer to one of my posts in that thread on which wires to join to get the reverce lights to work and to make the car start after you have converted it!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009 - 11:40 am, by: Richard Ferrara(426440)
Ok all of the bits and pieces have arrived! there is one thing that has me stumped though...
The R154 I purchased has a mechanical speedo sensor, the Soarer requires a electronic speedo.
Toyota r154 electronic speed sensor is $300 It has been said that using a marlin crawler VSS + toyota part numbers 33485-30020, 33404-22010, 334403-29115 will work.
Is there any other way that DOESN'T involve me getting more bits from the US or dishing out $300 to Toyota?
Friday, February 13, 2009 - 09:21 pm, by: Aaron Casey(Blownminiturbo)
hey richard is yours the black soarer with front mount 18's and the black altezza lights? just says you are from goulburn, i am also about to get into a manual conversion on mine, just waiting on mine coming from melbourne, how funny is that about 3 soarers in goulburn and 2 are doing manual conversions lol
have to get together and have a look at each others cars..
Monday, February 16, 2009 - 07:07 am, by: Richard Ferrara(426440)
Hey Scott/Aaron,
Yeah its black, front mount, 19's and black altezzas (black halo's on the front too). Also have a white UZZ31 with 18" chromies. Sent my number to Scott, give us a call one day and we'll catch up.
Friday, February 20, 2009 - 11:04 am, by: Richard Ferrara(426440)
OK, so it turns out after having the R154 stripped down to put the aftermarket bits on all the sync's are stuffed (2nd gear especially) and the hardened coating has started to wear away on 4th gear.
This R154 has had a hard life!!
I have ordered a gearbox sync/bearing/seal replacement kit from driftmotion and a marlin crawler VSS to resolve the speedo problem.
Saturday, February 21, 2009 - 05:36 pm, by: Michael Keen(Spoilt)
i to got the conversion kit, from them. but i got soarer one, so it all bolted in nicely.. expect the dash was from a later one so it did not suit, and they refund me on that which was nice.
Saturday, February 21, 2009 - 08:42 pm, by: Richard Ferrara(426440)
Michael, the difference from the soarer R154 to the JZA70 Supra R154 is the speedo sensor and the remote shifter mechanism. Other than that they are identical.
Would have been nice to get the pedal boxes and master cylinder from a Soarer though. Would save me getting the brake pedal from Japan. JZA70 clutch box should fit though, will soon see! I am going to mount the pedal boxes tomorrow and clutch master cylinder. Conversion will take place next weekend if my parts come from the US beginning of next week.
Wednesday, March 04, 2009 - 08:10 pm, by: Aaron Casey(Blownminiturbo)
its been taking me alot longer cause ive been fixing alot of dodgy wiring i found under my dash from the local auto ecectrician trying to find a power drain from where my car was sideswiped... never noticed till you start pulling panels of the dash off lol its a spaghetti ball!!
come on richard get ya stuff together haha even im further along... somewhat lol
Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 10:33 pm, by: Richard Ferrara(426440)
Nearly there! The R154 rebuild kit arrived today, will be handing it over to advanced transmissions tomorrow and hopefully I can start the conversion next weekend. Monday morning I should have a R154 Tranny!
Sunday, April 05, 2009 - 04:59 pm, by: Aaron Casey(Blownminiturbo)
conversion done... i helped him all good the probs we found was the jza70 gearbox mount didnt fit.. drilled out crossmember to fit till get car running and find the proper one, also too the jza70 flywheel didnt fit on properly as the cantre hole was 41.8mm and the locating centre on crank was 42.2mm so lathed the .8mm off the centre of the flywheel and she fit perfect.. also has to find a manual computer to get rid of the ect messages and overdrive light. while we were at it found a vacuum leak which we will be fixing asap from the solenoid/valve under the manifold..
richard is very happy so hopefully it doesnt play up on him... now have to get mine finished
Friday, April 10, 2009 - 01:14 pm, by: Richard Ferrara(426440)
Yup conversion done!!
Only snag in the road as Aaron said was the only second hand part I didn't check as I thought it would be fine (after a regrind).... the flywheel. Make sure you measure it before attempting this conversion otherwise you will be mighty pissed off!
It was quite easy.... condensed version below.
1. Remove battery negative 2. Undo bolt for auto gearbox dipstick 3. Remove dipstick 4. Remove exhaust 5. (Get a spill tray ready for this as fluid will come out the back of the gearbox) Remove drive shaft 6. Remove torque converter bolts (spin engine with front crank bolt) 7. Remove starter motor bolts, let the motor hang 8. Unplug electrical loom 9. Undo cooling lines from gearbox and radiator (spill tray) 10. Remove gear selector mechanism. 11. Remove lower bellhousing bolts 12. Place transmission jack under auto box 13. Remove crossmember 14. Allow gearbox to sag a bit 15. Using a long extension bit remove the top bellhousing bolts 16. Pull gearbox WITH torque converter out otherwise you will spill a lot of fluid. (see drip tray) 17. Lower and remove the gearbox. 18. Remove the centre console (three screws under glove compartment and two at the front down the bottom) and cut the hole for the R154 shifter 19. Remove all the bits for the auto on the crank (spacer etc). 20. Install flywheel (74-nm torque on bolts) 21. Install pilot bearing 22. Install master cylinder\clutch pedal box 23. Connect clutch line and clip up (under brake lines). 24. Get the R154 ready (ensure shifter bushing is installed, grease up the flat non splined areas of the input shaft, Install the hub carrier and throwout bearing on the pressure plate, put the pressure plate on the input shaft and install the clutch fork, plate clutch disk on input shaft) 25. Install gearbox and do up bellhousing bolts and starter motor. Now would also be a good time to fill with gearbox oil (redline shockproof lightweight blue) 26. Align pressure plate to dowels on flywheel and tighten up SLOWLY (all bolts until head touches surface, then nip them up around until its flat, then torque to 30nm in diagonals). 27. Connect clutch slave to hydraulic line 28. Install clutch slave 29. Fill with brake fluid (dot-4) and bleed 30. If you care about cruise, connect the neutral start switch (two big female spade connectors on main auto loom) to the clutch pedal switch. If you don't care, just bridge them to start the car. 31. Reverse lights... on mine there wasn't a "reverse light loom" as stated elsewhere. The reverse lights were on the main auto loom. After the two big connectors there are 7 other connectors. One is 12v+ the others are for P,R,N,D,2,L. You need to connect the reverse light switch on the R154 to 12v+ and R (put car in on position and bridge until reverse lights come on, note down colours and cut/solder). 32. If your not lucky enough to get a electronic speedo sensor, use a marlin crawler VSS (from driftmotion). 33. After this is done tidy everything up, bolt up crossmember, bolt up drive shaft, bolt up exhaust, give her an oil change and drive away!!
If there is one thing I learnt from this (after speaking to other members and how disappointed they are). Don't buy from the toy shop.
This conversion is awesome and I would recommend it to anyone that has a spare 5k
Thursday, April 23, 2009 - 07:15 pm, by: Aaron Casey(Blownminiturbo)
i will say michael i got •••••• around by the toy shop too. got told they had a door for my car when it was ran into and was told 400 and they had it there waiting for me.. after a 4hr trip i got there and was told they didnt have a complete door but they could piece together most of one but the parts seperate would be 1250 and there was no way they could have quoted me 400.. so after being pissed off enough to do alot of yelling at them and telling them where to go after i would have a 8hr return trip for nothing. i looked in a few old hot 4's and saw a few places to look. ended up in greenacre at sydney auto dismantlers and they were more than happy to sell a complete door for 400 and i could take my pick of around 15 of them and they helped me out with some other parts i needed cheaply too. the shop itself didnt look the best but least they had good customer relations and didnt come back on their quoted price.. anyway my 2 cents on why i dont like the toy shop.
Sunday, July 11, 2010 - 04:43 am, by: Sykes Ettinoffe(Sikes)
Hey guys just did the r154 conversion. The car has hardly been drive since. For the driveshaft I use the ja70 front half of the driveshaft with the soarer bearing. So far the only complaint it is a little tight
Monday, July 12, 2010 - 01:17 am, by: Sykes Ettinoffe(Sikes)
Did have a few issues but nothing that great. We did extend the shifted housing way before the swap began and did have to use the mkiv w58 gearbox mount. This site and the US site did provide sufficient details that we did not run into anything too serious.
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