TxBmbleBee's Tranny Swap Complete(...sorta)! 2/7/10

[Gibson99]

then you probably don't want to use a stage 3 clutch for the camry....exact same as your miata....engages near the floor....but probably about 4 or 5 times heavier than the stock clutch...

Actually i already have a stage3 + fidanza. it engages a lot higher than the miata's clutch does. i watched tiem driving this car with an ACT clutch and it literally engaged about 1/2" off the floor. talk about annoying to drive! and that was with the pushrod adjusted as far out as it would go - the jam nut was hanging on by barely 2 threads. and no, the clutch disk was not installed upside down, either!

this clutch in the camry is almost as heavy feeling as the cable clutch in my brother-in-law's old '01 saleen mustang (non-sc). that clutch felt more "grabby", but then again it's a saleen mustang - probably designed for a bit more holding power than even a stage 3 camry clutch.

[Eye8Pussies]

ahhh....which company did you go with for your clutch? did you get a spec one as well? my clutch engages probably about an inch off the floor. and after I adjusted the push rod, it's probably about 1.5" off the floor.

[Gibson99]

ahhh....which company did you go with for your clutch? did you get a spec one as well? my clutch engages probably about an inch off the floor. and after I adjusted the push rod, it's probably about 1.5" off the floor.

it's a clutch masters. not sure if it's "spec" or not, just know that it's a CM stage 3 that was bought probably some time around 2003. it engages just below the middle of the pedal travel - it feels normal/average to me, based on all the different vehicles i've driven. aside from how heavy it is, it feels stock.

not sure how many miles are on it or who tiem actually bought it from since it was installed well before i bought the car, but i would not be surprised if there was 40k or even 60k miles on this clutch. it's still holding just fine - the tires are the limiting factor for my car right now. one of these days i'll be able to buy something better than 205/65/15 on stock steelies.... i'd like a set of is300 wheels and 235/50/17 (yes, i know it's taller than stock). it all depends on when (not if) i win the lottery! of course if i win the lotto i'll probably buy something nicer than just is300 wheels.

And now, back to your regularly scheduled transmission swap thread.

[TxBmbleBee]

gibson! its about time you poked your head in here ahaha. if im correct tho isnt a stage 3 meant for a vehicle with lots of torque so it can grab. i dunno if ihave this all wrong but a stage 3 just seems like overkill to me, even supercharged..

and king i think i will def be doing the obx headers now, afterall it is the perfect time!

anyywayysss...more pics i forgot to post to help peeps with their swaps and stuffff

brand new shift boot with trim bought from toyota. which SUCKS cause it is too large for the short shifter and to me looks like ass


here is the mount (or insulator as toyota calls it...)


mount bolts, pressure plate bolts, flywheel bolts

[Gibson99]

gibson! its about time you poked your head in here ahaha. if im correct tho isnt a stage 3 meant for a vehicle with lots of torque so it can grab. i dunno if ihave this all wrong but a stage 3 just seems like overkill to me, even supercharged..

yes stage 3 is for lots of torque. and overkill means a clutch will last longer... in theory. i didn't choose the clutch in this car, but i have no complaints about it. lmk if you wanna drive it before you order anything.

[gnegroni]

Nice work. Your interior is cleannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!!!!!!

Yeah, and roomy too without the seats! LOL

Keep up the good work! Not sure if it is yet, but this should be a sticky ...provided you do not remove the pictures from imageshack, it will be an awesome sticky!

[Solorange]

Hey thanks for the good read! Very good tips. I think this will keep most people from ever doing this lol! Just curious how much has all this cost you so far? It almost seems like it would have been easier to buy a manual Solara and swap all your parts. Kudos to you for taking the hard way! As you know it will be worth it in the end. I remember the light and day difference between an auto vs. a manual when test driving cars back in the day I bought my manual Solara.

[TxBmbleBee]

Hey thanks for the good read! Very good tips. I think this will keep most people from ever doing this lol! Just curious how much has all this cost you so far? It almost seems like it would have been easier to buy a manual Solara and swap all your parts. Kudos to you for taking the hard way! As you know it will be worth it in the end. I remember the light and day difference between an auto vs. a manual when test driving cars back in the day I bought my manual Solara.

i knew this question would eventually come up so i will answer it now for you guys

ive had my car since i was 16, and im almost 24 now. ahhh memories lol...When I went to the car lot, I didnt have many options. The car could not be too small in size, and it HAD to be an auto. I didnt have a lot of choices b/c everyone knows when your 16 the only thing you dream about is getting a car haha. To this day I have no idea why my dad would not buy me a manual, but nevertheless in the corner of the lot, a red sporty coupe caught my attention. I had NO idea what a solara was at the time, but i loved it the second i took it for a test drive. Had my dad allowed me to get a manual for my car, i prob would have never ended up with a solara tho.

so due to the nostalgic value of it being my first car, and me always wanting a manual transmission are a few of the reasons

i also did search for solaras around me in stick, but the gen 1, 1.5 are getting older now, and the only one i could find had 150k miles on it!! as opposed to mine that has only 45k. and b/c i plan on supercharging in the very near future, i liked my setup better

im kind of frustrated actually that yall are going to make this a sticky, had i known i would have done a much better job documenting all the steps. but honestly it doesnt need to be stickied. if you scroll up and look at the pics, you can see jons transmission swap steps (white sheets of paper) sitting on my engine bay. i have been following those so far and they have been a God send. granted i have had help form king and gibson here and there, but thats what friends are for haha.

as far as price. i could have kept it very very low if i wanted to. i bought shortshifter, speedsource cable/base bushing, and im going to go with a fidanza fly and aftermarket clutch, and as king has said, that is the bulk of the money spent...ive been keeping a list of the costs, so remind me and il post an update at the end.

thanks for all the positive comments, i really do hope this thread helps a lot of people with swaps or decisions about possibly swapping.

and fyi i am not an adventurous person by any means. the only reason i am attempting this is b/c it has been done before, thus i know it can be done haha. i hope at least

[TxBmbleBee]

i thought i would share with everyone what has been the BIGGEST pain of the entire swap....

THE POS PASSENGER AXLEEEE!!

I will admit it had me stumped, and looking at kings swap thread i saw he had to cut his to get to a bolt. Most would pull out both axles and then drop the tranny, i actually pulled out the drivers side (yanked it) and obviously could not get the other out as it was seized in its mount...so i moved onto the greater task of dropping the tranny and put this on the backburner. Then i came across a thread on TN where a guy just pulled off the whole mount. So finally the axle is off the car but not out of its mount...somehow i feel as if victory is at hand. and i btw i have sprayed the crap out of it with pb blaster.

here it is in all its glory, mount still attached


you can see all the dings in the back where i had tried to use a wedge and a hammer to bang it out of the mount while under the car


with the axle off you can see straight through lol, and hopefully you see why i am going to take this time to put in the obx headers as i have ez access to the rear (ps did not mean that to sound dirty hahah)


subframe, it will be pressure washed and painted...

i am undecided if i will change out the mounts to something stiffer...
an upgraded torque rod will def go in!

[solaraboy]

wow! nice job dude.

[Ilovemylara]

^^ x2

[Gibson99]

so hey what's the holdup? i figured you'd be done by now!

[jstarone]

Ah the 5sp swap. Defiantly worth it. I have done that before, wasn't for a Solara though. I was lucky enough to find a 5sp Solara. The coolest thing about changing a car from automatic to manual is when you get the 5sp trans in and see how much of a difference it makes in the same car.

[TxBmbleBee]

yep. ^^^ i cant wait. sorry for the hold up guys. money has been tight and i have not been able to buy the fidanza flywheel or the clutch yet. I am looking at ordering it within the next few weeks. After that there will be a few more misc parts i will need but nothing major. I'll be keeping ya'll updated and of course post my total cost and thoughts on the swap.

[jstarone]

You will LOVE that fidanza setup. When the clutch goes in my solara that's what I'm going for. I got really lucky and found a guy that let me stip all the parts I needed for 200$ for the last car I swapped from auto to manual.