Manual gearbox into MX83 Cressida?

[wagonist]

I've been looking around at how to do this conversion, & no one has ever written a guide on what's required.
There are quite a few options, but some need more work than others.

This is what I have found out so far, but if those in the know or who've done the conversion can confirm or refute what's here, we can get a good guide up for others.

Gearboxes: R154, W55, W58.
Some of these are direct fitment to 7M, and some to 1JZ or 2JZ

Gearbox crossmembers:
MA70?
JZX70?
others?

Pedals:
GX81
MA70
#A61?
others?

[RONA]

R154 from a turbo MA70/MZ20/21 would be the most logical as it'd have the right bell housing etc.

GA61 would be silly why not get a MA61 w58 as it has the right bellhousing.

[Norbie]

It's worth noting that JZX81's were never manual from the factory. Occasionally you'll see manual front cuts but these were converted in Japan, and they're pretty rare these days.

MA70/MZ20 is definitely the go for transmission/clutch/flywheel etc, not sure about the pedals though.

[wagonist]

Who said anything about most logical?
I'm trying to make a list of ALL the options.
And do you see anything mentioning gearbox from GA61?

Norbie, what do they use for parts for the conversion in Japan? There must've been a manual version of the #X3# somewhere (probably the diesel) judging by the blanking plate on the firewall.

First post edited.

[JP]

Actually the JZX81 never came in Manual from the factory, you need a pedal set from a GX81 GT, they bolt straight in. You also need to change the brake pedal to a manual style item, some people put a bend in the clutch pedal and leave the wide auto brake pedal in place

If you have the pedal-operated handbrake you need to convert the car to the conventional handle style in the console. Easy to do, just need the handle style lever and the cable with fitting that attaches to it. There should be a wire in the loom on top of the tunnel for the parking brake light switch to connect to already.

The Transmission tunnel requires clearancing to fit the R154, a W5x fits the tunnel fine.
For the R154 the drivers side of the rear of the tunnel needs the most massaging with a sledge hammer.

The A70 R154 has the correct shifter position, the rear-most shifter position is required on a W box (the integrated extension housing, not the external remote setup).

I used an auto A340/341 crossmember on both the cars I've done, I had to space it down 5-10mm.

GX81 clutch slave bolts straight in, the spot is already in the firewall for it. The hardline also clips into the existing brake line clips.

You can tap the reverse light switch from the old Auto loom plug down near the tunnel, two wires require connecting, you can also bridge the neutral start switch at the same auto plug if you wish. I bypassed my neutral start switch up in the cabin behind the glovebox.

On my cars I pulled the cluster out and removed the bulbs from the auto position indicator, then placed some black tape over the face of the position indicator assembly, when it's installed back in the cluster you can no-longer see the PND12R etc.

I had to get the tailshaft modified with an R154 yoke on both cars I've done.

An A70 clutch master cylinder doesn't quite fit in the factory holes in the firewall, the A70 bolts are on more of an angle than the GX81 item. There are two types of A70 master cylinders so the second type might be a better fit, I haven't had the second type in my hands to confirm this.

Its good to replace the pilot bearing and rear main seal while the box is out, I think the M/T flywheel bolts are also a different length to the flex-plate bolts, someone else should be able to confirm this. I used the MT flywheel bolts.

My auto-starter fitted perfectly, and there was already a bracket in place for the clutch softline on the chassis rail.

If you dont get an R154 slave Cyl with your conversion package, Toyota still sell them new for about $110, pn# 31470-14050. They're also available aftermarket for about $50-60

You might aswell also change the gear lever seat bush while you're at it, PN# 33505-35020 - ~ $15

The tunnel isn't quite big enough to fit the R154 when the pull-type clutch setup is already fitted to the flywheel, so you need to install the pressure plate and clutch plate into the box, fit the box, then install the pressure plate bolts to the flywheel through the inspection ports (PIA!)

The R154 will have a mechanical speedo drive coming out of the box on the drivers side, if you have an electronically driven speedo, the sender from your auto box will screw onto the R154 mechanical sender, if you have a cable driven speedo, the cable will screw into place also.

If you can find someone with a leftover GX81 frontcut, you might be able to score the acrylic shifter surround with gear boot, if not it's possible to make up a wire frame for the base and have a boot made to fit the frame which you can clip/glue to the auto surround. I used some TIG filler rod as the frame for the boot surround in my wagon, bent it to shape and fused the join together.

I had a GX81 item in my chaser, I modded an auto-item and made my own boot in my wagon. Chaser boot: http://www.twincam.org/forums/upload...1127255159.jpg

W58 shifter position needs to be the same as: http://www.rollamods.com/gallery/gxjx/chasa138.jpg

GX81 pedal setup: http://www.rollamods.com/gallery/gxjx/chasa197.jpg

Tunnel clearancing: http://www.rollamods.com/gallery/gxjx/chasa318.jpg


That's about all I can think of for now...

Jason

[Norbie]

Great info JP, +rep.

[MarkIIGT]

heaps of info on the cressida forums

http://www.thermactor.com/manualswap.doc <-- manual conversion guide for 7m using w58 box

JP covered the 1JZ r154 conversion

[JP]

R154 onto a 7M is basically the same as using an R154 on a 1J in the same chassis.

[wilbo666]

Awesome info (I need to wait to give you rep).

I think that the W series shifter postion would be the second most rear tho (not the most rear). The second most rear position is what came on MA70's...The most rear came on SA63 celicas (and that is all to my knowledge)...there isn't much difference tho

Cheers
Wilbo

[cambelt]

the GX81 box has the SA 63 shifter position for sure
Dave

[ScottBlack]

www.toyotacressida.net is the new forums for www.thermactor.com/forum/ so if u need to ask for info there the newer one is where u need to register, yet yeah, alot of info there and quite a few people who have done it,
http://forums.toyotacressida.net/for...ht=auto+manual

[stevevp]

pedal set parts list of you want to get them from toyota.

Pedal Box......... 55107-22200 $96-00 list price (aus)
Pedal................ 31310-22070 $74-00
pedal shaft........ 90101-10039 $3.78
collar................ 90387-10003 $8.54
bushpedal x2..... 90386-13192 $3.23
spring................ 90508-45001 $16-00
prn m/c rad........ 90240-08006 $3.23
Bush cl m/c rod. 90386-08002 $9.86
grommet........... 90468-16142 $1.36
cushion............. 90541-06008 $3.03
Pad clutch......... 31321-14020 $4.44
mast cylinder..... 31410-22132 $200.00

W5x clutch tube. 31481-22350 $59.00
W5x clutch hose 90931-01058 $47.00
W5x slave cyl ... 31470-22101 $97.00 or R154 slave 31470-14050, list price $122.10

[JP]

Steve,

is that part number for the W58 slave? The R154 slave I purchased last week was a 31470-14050, list price $122.10

Jason

[stevevp]

Yes, W58 slave setup
original post now edited

[JP]

the R154 slave also needs a different softline, and an additional hardline. Not sure about their part numbers or prices, I had the softline made for $34 at ABS and I made the hardline myself