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^^ Interesting. So Toyota did change the VSS to a simple two-wire hall-effect sensor signal from what was previously a three-wire VSS. Yeah, it appears that they still saw a use for it but now only for the automatic transmission shifting logic.
The 1992-1997 clusters always got a redundant transmission VSS + front ABS speed sensor signal input for the odometer while in 1992-1997 models the transmission VSS was the sole speedometer signal input. This model year revision consolidates speed signal input for multiple things.
xdTau, it might be useful to keep the VSS three-wire sensor on your transmission for a future time when you may be going with an aftermarket ECU (for forced induction). In that wiring scenario with a custom engine harness you will probably need the three-wire sensor connection on the transmission.
But until then it looks like you will be good to go. I recommend neatly bundling up and that soon to be unused two-wire VSS sub-harness with a zip tie, taping the end off with 3M Super33+ electrical tape and securing the bundle with another zip-tie somewhere secure, safe and out of the way for the time being.
Yep, I'm definitely keeping the vss for those same reasons.
Finally got the driveshaft today.... either I was confused on what they were offering or something, but they made an entirely new shaft for me. I'm definitely not complaining haha.
I transferred the rubber thing I keep forgetting the name of to the new shaft, got it in without a hitch, put some redline mt90 in the transmission, bolted the exhaust back up and took it for a few drives. The break-in instructions say that your first drive should take 20 minutes at operating temp, and then at least 20 minutes cooling off. I figured it would be a good idea to have my dad do the first 20 minutes since he knows what he's doing. Being one of my first times driving something manual, I definitely suck, but it's still been a lot of fun so far. There is a bit of road noise, but I think I can fix it pretty easily.
This project kind of burned a hole in my pocket, so my next goal is just to get this thing as clean as I possibly can. I'm not super knowledgeable on paint, but I'd like to get it looking a lot better than it sits. Same with my headlights. I've heard that OG Status is a great place to get headlights restored at, and there is a local shop that specializes in paint products.
Congratulations on the accomplishment of this feat of love of your SC. So many people start projects and never finish. Just think YOU did. Congratulations again.
Bill
Congrats man! That's a big project and it sounds like you're movin and groovin. One thing I've learned over a lot of years playing with cars... Simple is undeniably awesome. I've done various engine and transmission swaps, run cars on standalone ecu's, all kinds of awesome (and incredibly stupid mods), etc etc... But, something that's fun, reliable, and that allows you to drive it regularly is the absolute best! Go slow, clean it up well, and catch up on maintenance, pick your mods wisely, and don't forget to enjoy every step of the journey! That's a beautiful car that I know you'll be very proud of to cruise around once you get used to driving a manual. You'll pick it up quick - just keep driving!
Watch a few youtube vids on how to polish and wax that thing along with restoring the headlights. It's incredibly satisfying work (especially on a car as nice as yours).
Congratulations!!! You worked hard to make this happen and it's a great thing to hear you were able to get it onto the road and start driving on it with the manual transmission! You will get used to it and improve your skill as you go. For me the first time I ever drive a manual car I had to practice for a whole day in a parking lot to get the basics down and then it took another month of regular driving to get sufficiently smooth at it. The rest after that is just experience and time improving your skill. You're going to love it!
The GE VVT-i ECU is never going to be 100% as dialed in for a manual transmission as well as the earlier GE Non-VVT-i M/T ECUs, GTE M/T ECUs or a standalone ECU with a good tune but it will serve you well and shouldn't get in the way of your enjoyment of that R154.
I'm glad to hear the remade driveshaft went in without any trouble (just as it should be!). It looks like they indeed made an almost entirely new driveshaft for you based on the original and your modification specs. The joints are slightly different but everything looks to be in the right places. You basically have a brand new OEM-like part
Welcome to the club of people whose car projects drained them financially and mentally for a while, haha You've got your SC to a good point now. Certainly take a break from the big stuff and enjoy your newly converted SC!
As for the headlights, Organized Garage Status is the biggest name we use in the SC community to get our vehicle's headlights, high beams and tail lights restored. Rudy is right about how easy it is to learn from youtube tutorials to do your own at-home restoration. I have done that twice myself with my SC's headlights and now that they are once again due for another restoration I think I will sent my spare set out to OG Status to have them redone professionally with the protective anti-oxidation lens film they apply as a finishing touch (which requires a careful hand to do just right with the correct thickness film).
I have used the $40 3M headlight restoration kits in the past with their wipe-on clearcoat. You use a variable speed drill at low speeds with their staged cutting and polishing pads. It does work very well! But the wipe-on clearcoat only lasts for a couple of years or so before oxidation sets in again. If you have a cloudy headlight with internal moisture due to a seal leak then that is the sort of thing that requires re-sealing them using the oven baking technique (NOT in the oven you cook food in, I'd say!). OG Status of course can re-seal headlights with moisture leaks as well.
But if you have no moisture leaks and have a careful, even and steady hand with a variable speed drill one of those 3M headlight restoration kits with the wipe-on clearcoat finish can work wonders for at least 24 months so so
This gives me excitement to get my setup in. I bought the whole metal upper tranmission tunnel from a supra, but I am intrigued with the FRP upper piece.
Any pictures of how you cut your auto tunnel to accommodate and install photos of the FRP piece?
Also I dig the replica two piece driveshaft and I hope it works for you. That is going to feel extremely smooth if the lengths are all correct. I decided I was going to measure flange length to input shaft and have an aluminum 1 piece done by driftmotion as I really dig their cnc billet yolk and also the one piece adapter flange to u-joint piece they created. Looks stout. Who did you go with to make the driveshaft though?
Thanks Kahn! I've tried restoring headlights on my own before and they didn't turn out too great, so I think a more permanent solution from OG Status will be a better route for me.
Joe, I wish I would have taken better pictures. I would say I cut out about 2.5 to 3 inches forward from the hole in the tunnel that the automatic shifter rests in, with the same width. The FRP piece actually didn't fit and I had to cut it to make it work. The piece also doesn't come with any pre-drilled holes to mount to the tunnel, so I had to make my own. If you already have the whole entire new tunnel for a tripod, I'd definitely recommend that, however mine turned out pretty good.
I went to Drivelines NW for the custom two-piece. I brought my old driveshaft in and told them I wanted the front half lengthened by 50 mm and they took it and made a replica. The only small issue is that the dust cover doesn't fit, as the shape is a bit different. I also probably should have bought a new driveshaft coupler, but transferring my old one went fine.
For what it's worth, here is an excellent video showing how to (permanently) remove your original transmission tunnel top sheetmetal and properly install the Supra MKIV M/T top tunnel sheetmetal. That same top tunnel sheetmetal is used in MKIVs for the W58 Tripod, V160 and V160 (both Tripod) and to swap in any R154 Tripod.
Ignore the V160 specific steps such as the modification to the cosmetic shifter bezel. You do not that with your bezel with any W58 tripod or R154 tripod swap. It is only required for a V160 into an SC/Soarer.
The vehicle in the video is a 1991 or 1992 original 5-speed manual JZZ30 Soarer which came with the "toploader" factory extended Non-Tripod R154 and the same transmission tunnel top sheetmetal found in all 1992-1994 Lexus SC300 factory 5-speeds (and which is a long discontinued sheetmetal part).
Other than all of that the procedure the owner shows is 100% how you would do this to convert your SC with the same transmission tunnel top metal for an R154 Tripod swap.
Definitely wear a high quality dual respirator mask and goggles if doing this job!
(Note: The dry ice stage is how the owner removed all the factory sound deadening material in the floorpans. Totally NOT necessary at all and I'm not sure why he opted to do that for a street car but if you ever needed to know how... now you know!)
I love this guy! His channel is part of what inspired me to get one of these cars! This guy is super thorough and he has some super well done tutorials on youtube.
I might buy the tunnel now, just to have it and figure out a time to get it all together at a later date. Thanks!
Okay, so a few things after my 7th day driving this amazing car:
First, while I love z30concepts, the aftermarket bezel doesn't fit perfectly. Because of this, it's kind of hard to open the ash tray, so if I can find an oem bezel with the heated seat buttons, I think I'll jump on that, but for now it works fine and looks good too.
There was a LOT of noise coming out of the trans tunnel for one main reason: the floor boot opening is a bit wider than the actual shifter and that tiny opening let in 90% of the noise I was experiencing. I zip tied it and it immediately got much quieter. I know, not super proper, but I figure when I replace the tunnel piece, I will do something better and more permanent. I also took a big towel and made an opening just big enough to stretch over the shifter and stuffed in down in there as well. The noise at this point is about where it was before I swapped the car, and I'm happy with it for now.
I learned a lesson the hard way: the MT Supra brake pedal is not identical to the SC300 one for some stupid reason. So I lost some money on that because I didn't do my research. I found some threads on here reporting the same thing, but it was after it already arrived. At least I didn't make a mistake like this when I was doing the swap itself haha.
The speedometer does indeed work so that was a relief.
I'm not sure how much the transmission is supposed to vibrate with an oem rubber mount, but the polyurethane one hasn't bothered me. I heard a rattling noise today and thought it was coming from the transmission, but it turns out my shift **** was on there too loosely.
I was looking into reupholstering my seats, and on leatherseats.com, with all seats, arm rest, and perforated leather on the center of each seat, it's $1700. I guess I'll have to hold off on that for now, but if anyone has experience with this website, are they anything like oem? I'm really hoping to find the highest quality seats I can find that look identical to what I have now (which might require an upholstery shop instead).
So far so good. I need more funds for this project haha.
When I had my OEM Supra MKIV 1993-1996 version seats reupholstered I went to a local shop that has been around for decades. They used skins from either LeatherSeats.com or Katzkin (I've heard it said that they're the same company these days) but I had them custom ordered in the an SC tan interior matching color (GL603 Ivory).
They're a very good company and $1,700 doesn't seem to be out of the ballpark in today's money. I had my front seats and all my other front cabin leather redone in 2013 and the cost was only a little below that for me. My rear seats were not included in that reupholstery work and I still need to get them redone.
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The transmission tunnel opening in a 91-00 SC/Soarer surprisingly lets in a LOT of noise and heat. The rubber dust and sound boots are there for a good reason so anything you can do to put a custom made good rubber seal in place and affix the OEM tripod style upper noise/heat isolation boot (below the cosmetic shifter bezel) will cure that issue as you found out.
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I am not sure about the NVH difference between a polyurethane and OEM rubber R154 trans mount. I use the OEM rubber mount (for a Supra MKIII in my case since I have the MKIII version of the transmission) and I find it to be normal for any performance car of the era in which it was originally designed (~1991). There is normal shifter vibration with an R154 and pretty much any longitudinal performance transmission that isn't a cable-actuated design. This is because the shifter, even a tripod shifter, channels at least some vibrations since it is directly connected to the transmission.
Very normal. However your super loose shifter end did need to be tightened a bit as you did.
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Great news about your speedometer working normally! This confirms everything estSC said above!
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The Z30Concepts bezel probably could work better with the OEM ashtray bezel if some very careful filing or graduaded sanding were applied to that end of it, plus some refinishing of course.
I replaced my ashtray bezel with an AutoExtrude three-gauge aftermarket bezel and relocated my 12V DC accessory outlet. AutoExtrude also sells a two-gauge bezel. I found it useful to put aftermarket oil pressure, oil temperature and water temperature gauges there. But you don't need any of that right now with a stock NA engine. No extra gauge monitoring is really needed until you have force induction.
I have an original 5-speed bezel in my SC (since it came that way) and I do find that the lip at the lower part of the ashtray area is a little bit tight by design. Also over many, many years in the sun those OEM bezels can warp... but we're talking 20++ years of direct sun exposure with no sunshades to begin affecting it.
That might be a good solution for you long term if you want to relocate your factory seat heater switches to the standard location that 5-speed bezels use.
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The Supra MKIV brake pedal is slightly different, yes. It is minor but enough to matter. The Supra MKIV clutch pedal and mounting box is different also but it pretty much bolts into an SC/Soarer Z30.
Remember: Toyota developed the SC/Soarer Z30 *first* and then designed the Supra MKIV based on a hybrid combination of: The Soarer Z30 front and rear subframes and other hard chassis points and a combination of Supra MKIII starting points added to that design mule chassis which were also heavily reworked or totally redesigned.
Every aspect of the MKIV was put on an aggressive "weight diet" and this also included the pedals.
The Supra MKIV's chief designer wanted to have a clean slate to design the car from scratch but the top brass vetoed it and that is why the MKIV was born from a very modified hybrid of the SC/Soarer Z30 and Supra MKIII.
What's up xdTau. About to fit my pedals, did you have a predrilled hole for your lower clutch pedal assembly mounts? Im gonna do some work today but do not see an obvious place to bolt in.
Well, it's been a while but I've finally made some changes.
I changed my transmission oil at 500 miles and now have well over 1000 on the transmission.
The big thing is that I bought some BC Racing BR series coilovers and dropped the car by close to 2 inches, if I had to guess. It's hard to tell because the stock wheels are so tucked, but it's almost as low as I can go. The ride is surprisingly pretty good (14k/10k), although I get thrown around pretty good on some badly maintained backroads. They look awesome too! Really hard to tell, but the tire is a bit above the fender line Had to take a picture when I walked up today. It looks so good from the back!
Car looks killer - I'm glad it's driving well for you too! Some wheels/tires and a couple of fun bolt ons will make this thing a riot. Keep enjoying it!
04-19-23, 04:22 PM
You've got your SC to a good point now. Certainly take a break from the big stuff and enjoy your newly converted SC!
