**Updated** August 8, 2007
I had forgotten that I4 to V6 swap had also swapped in a gen4 1mzfe, supercharged it and then also did the 5-speed swap at the same time a couple of years ago.
I now can only claim to be the first to do all this while keeping the gen3 1mzfe- which I must say was a bitch and what was created all the problems. Too bad Gibson never went through with his swap after his supercharge.
Sooo...I've been putting this off for awhile now because I've just been crazy busy with work and stuff since I'm going to be out of the country for school at the end of August (and yes, sadly enough, I have to leave my car at home since parking in NYC is just ridiculous).
I finished my 5-speed swap almost a month ago and have since put about 3000+ km on it. And long story short, it's the best thing that I've done to my car so far performance-wise. The real test for me was 2-weeks after the swap, I took my car on a 1400km road trip from Mississauga->Kingston->Ottawa->Montreal and then back to Mississauga (Toronto).
This shot is the only picture that I've taken since the swap. Look, my handbrake works! And the French sign is just to prove that my car made it to Montreal and back.
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For a fairly complete procedural and parts list, check out Jon's site (who used to be here on TN)
http://www.1jz.com/camry/guide-trans.htm
All I can say is that if I had know abuot Jon's site BEFORE I started on my swap, I could have saved myself some big headaches since Ratko's site was less than complete on some things.
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What I will be posting in this thread is mainly just extra tips and the like for those who want to tackle this in the future.
Starting off...
One of the simplest things that people don't know is that the manual tranny NOT ONLY needs a different mount, but it also needs a mounting plate to attach to the tranny itself since the tranny is smaller in size than the auto tranny (differential).
Jon has a good picture of the plate on the tranny from the bottom. Here's a picture I took of the plate and the mount along with the Toyota part number (it costed me $90CND for that plate with a discount and I took one of the 2 left in North America
)
The Axles: Now, the thing that EVERYBODY asks about
Long story short- if you are using the e153 from the gen4 camry or the solara, you HAVE TO HAVE THE AXLES FROM THE GEN4 CAMRY 5-speed OR THE SOLARA 5-speed. You CANNOT use automatic axles or the 3vz axles. From what I've learnt, the 3vz axles, regardless of auto or 5-speed are the same size as the 1mz auto axles (but don't quote me on this, and don't take this as much info if you're using the older e153 from the 3vz).
You will need the driver's side axle as well as the passenger side axle with the half-shaft (with the mount if possible- but that may not always be a good thing. I'll explain my situation later).
Long story short, this is what happens if you try to use an automatic axle instead of a 5-speed axle (this is a picture of the half-shaft going into the differential:
What you're looking at is the space between the tranny and the half-shaft seal. There is a good almost half a cm gap even with the tranny and engine pulled together as much as possible. In addition to that, the axle will now not turn at all.
This is the reason why:
On the left hand side, you see the 5-speed passenger side half-shaft. On the right hand side, you see the automatic half-shaft. As you can see, the 5-speed shaft is noticeable shorter- about a cm.
And here is where the main difference is:
The length of the input shaft. We had actually figured out why the auto shaft didn't fit and ground it down (I didn't take pictures of what we did) and we got it pretty close to the shaft/size of the 5-speed one, but it was ground down to the point where there were barely any splines left and definately NOT safe for use.
On the driver's side, the automatic axle will be too short and will not "clip" into place. On his site, Jon said that they couldn't turn the differential at all with the auto shaft, but I was actually able to make the splines catch and turn, but it would have slipped out quite easily. So again- a no fit. And here is a visual reminder of why that is:
On the top you see the 5-speed axle and on the bottom you see the automatic axle.
More Problems I ran into:
Removing the Bearing Mount
Due to the design of the half-shaft bearing mount and its positioning to the half-shaft head itself (where it meets the passenger side outside axle), it is basically impossible to reach one of the bolts that retain the mount to the engine block. This problem had me stumped for quite awhile until I figured that since I don't need my auto half-shaft anyway, I may as well cut it up. A cutting torch would have been handy, but my only option was to use a cutting disc + drill since my grinder couldn't fit a large enough disc. Here are the results:
In the end it really only took about 15-20min to get it done and then take the last remaining bolt off.
The frustrating thing is that according to the shop manual, you can just "slide" the actual half-shaft out of the bearing and its mount by unbolting its retaining screw, removing a clip and then pulling it out. Of course Toyota never thought about seizing/rusting, etc. Basically, once the car is driven, the shaft is then not removable from the bearing and its mount without a press
5-Speed Bearing Mount Fitment
Now, something that may not apply to everybody (it didn't to Milt), but applied to me, was the fact that my solara 5-speed half-shaft bearing mount did NOT mount up to my block. It was actually a totally different size AND shape than my original mount and not even one bolt matched up. Luckily, we have an axle guy here in TO who can press and remove axles, etc. so I was able to get the 5-speed half-shaft pressed into my original bearing mount. so that it would match up to my car.
I have the 1994 1mzfe, so technically it should have bolted right up as it has for other people, but mine didn't. I don't know why, but be prepared just in case. Make sure you know an axle shop that would be willing to press axles in and out if needed.
Clutch Line Problems
When I was installing the clutch master cylinder and the like, I realized that I didn't have the hydraulic lines that go from the mast to the ones on the tranny. This story results in a number of stripped fittings, needing lines from California for a stupid price as well as a stupid wait, and then me going to my local auto store (Canadian Tire) to pick up a brake line, bend it myself and then run a line straight from my master cylinder to my slave on the tranny.
The size of the line in case you want to do it yourself for $5 instead of what Toyota wants.
Tips:
- As reported by people how have done the swap, the y-pipe flange is supposed to touch things, but mine luckily didn't. I don't know if it's because I have a performance y-pipe or not, but Ratko had the same y-pipe and his still hit, so it may be a case-by-case thing.
- Make sure that your shifter cables don't touch your rear exhaust manifold or y-pipe as it will burn through them eventually. I was warned about this by a good friend, so I took precaution and made sure that the cables stayed away from the hot exhaust. Using 2 zip-ties to keep the cables together will solve this problem.
- Find somebody who has small hands to help you remove the original automatic shifter cables running through the firewall as there is a bracket that needs to be removed and it is damn near impossible to reach. You'll understand when you get down there. It would also help if you got that same person to get the 5-speed shifter cables through.
- If you're pulling the motor/tranny out through the top, leave the a/c compressor off the block as well as the power steering pump and save yourself problems when putting the engine back in and reconnecting everything
- When removing and replacing the axles, remove the struts altogether and it makes life a lot easier- this applies mainly to the passenger side.
*Added*
- Although nobody had mentioned this during any of their swaps and nobody really thought to ask- cruise control does not work after swapping in the 5-speed. My best guess is that the cruise control unit expects a signal from the auto tranny to work. The cruise light comes on fine, but the cruise cannot be engaged. Maybe now there's no more excuses to not get a celica wheel as well then
The unfortunate part is that there is also no 5-speed ecu for the gen3 1mz to swap in to make things such as this work.
- I've also been throwing a P1780 since the swap, which is apparently related to the Park/Neutral switch. The strange thing about it though is that if it is actually the switch, then I shouldn't be able to start my car. This will take some looking into. If anybody has ideas, let me know. I don't think I'm going to have time to deal with it until I come back for Christmas or something
Using the Gen4 Shifter
Use of the gen4 shifter can be more convenient if you definately plan on getting a shortshifter kit since there is much more available for the gen4 camry/solara platform than the gen3 platform.
The throw itself is also slightly shorter on the gen4 shifter than the gen3 shifter, which is a plus if you choose to remain stock.
BUT the disadvantages of using the gen4 shifter in the gen3 interior is due to the shape of the shifter itself. The shifter isn't straight and instead is angled- you don't see this with the shift boot on though. You can see this in the pictures on Jon's site.
On a practical level, this is actually very inconvenient. The simplest problem is that whenever the car is in 1st/3rd/5th, it looks as though the car is in neutral because the shifter sits straight up. When the car is in neutral, it looks as though the car is in 2nd/4th/reverse. These things are not really a big problem since you just have to get used to the placement of the shifter.
The problem when it comes to shifting is when the car is actually in 2nd/4th (also reverse, but this shouldn't be a concern when reversing) and there isn't much room at all for your arm to move without hitting the center console where you put all your crap. You have to put your arm on top of the console and then bend your wrist down to push the shifter forward. It can be really annoying and it also slows down your shifting and increases the chance of misshifting.
Here are the pictures of the shifter and you'll see what I mean:
1st/3rd/5th
Neutral
2nd/4th/Reverse
I am hoping that a twm shortshifter for the gen4 will help solve my problem by placing the shifter lower and in a better position so that the shifting is easier. I will update when I get mine and install it.
On a related note, if you want performance and to be able to "feel" your car and its shifts, brass bushings are a MUST. Speedsource carries both the shifter kit and the shifter cable kit. Get both and you won't regret it. It makes it easier to misshift and feel kinks in your shifting if you get lazy with your clutch since there is basically no give in the shifts, but it is well worth it for the feel. I didn't know how big of a difference it made until I had the chance to drive a stock 5-speed camry and I felt as though I was totally disconnected with the car.
My thoughts on the swap:
I say that this swap is the best performance mod that I have done to my car because although the 1mz has a decent bit of power, a lot of the guff is in the higher rpm ranges. Although the auto is smooth when it needs to be and kicks a decent bit when needed as well, it lacks the extra gear that really makes it shine. This, along with the extra 10% parasitic loss regained, makes one fast car. In my opinion, the stock 5-speed 1mz is faster than the 1mz auto blown @ 4psi even though it puts out less power to the wheels due to gearing. The 5-speed blown @ 6psi is just a shit load of fun
The car runs great, but I do have some leaks that need to be fixed. The main one is that my passenger side half-shaft IS leaking at the differential dispite my efforts with a new seal and the 5-speed shaft pressed into my original mount. There seems to be a slight gap that is causing it not to seal properly (or maybe the seal got a bit ruined from my constant in-and-out with the shafts while test fitting). But regardless, there IS a leak that is annoying, but it is manageable for now at about 500ml every 1000km or so. The differential holds about 4.5L, so it's nothing that will hurt it as long as I keep it topped up. I am also changing from synthetic gear oil to thicker dino oil in hopes of slowing down the leak as well. Unfortunately, it's not a problem that I can fix until next summer when I'll have time to pull the motor/tranny out again.
Another leak that I have is a power steering leak. I'm still not sure where it's leaking, but it makes me have to fill up the reservoir once every other day or so. I think that it's leaking at the pump where the hose meets the pump through the banko bolt, since I had some problems with that when putting the engine back in. Annoying, but again, manageable. But I'll try to fix this sometime before next summer probably since I can just remove the pump.
The starter also makes a grinding sound on the flywheel for about half a second when the car starts. It used to continue for a good while until the car is driven and revved up, but now it's only on start-up. It sounds as though the starter is caught or something, but I've tried another starter off my dad's sienna and it does the same thing. I don't mind as long as it's for a split second on startup.
New update
Something else that I had thought about before but got wrong was in regards to how loud my car is now. Prior to the swap, I had thought that my car would be louder, especially since I'll be downshifting now- after all, most of the civics that you hear roaring around neighbourhoods are doing it while downshifting.
But in reality, my car is now probably about half as loud as it was before. When I drop the hammer, the exhaust still roars, but I hear the whine of my supercharger more than ever, at idle the car is damn near silent, and when just cruising, the car is half as loud. I had forgotten that the exhaust note is basically due to load, and now the load on the engine is much less under all situations.
I have to say that this is actually a bonus in my mind since I found my car a bit loud sometimes and I really don't need more attention from the cops
Gas Mileage
Something that was always on my mind in regards to the swap, it has exceeded my expectations on one level and disappointed me on another. In the end though, it was basically what I thought it would be- better gas mileage overall. Before, I would hit about 450km before my gas light comes on. Now, I can hit 500km. About what I expected.
Strangely though, in-town, where I thought my gas mileage would stay the same, if not get worse since I would be booting around town at higher rpms than before (just because I can
), I am actually getting BETTER mileage than before- probably because I now don't need to hit boost to go the same speed as I did before. Ironically, it is now highway driving that is killing (well, really just staying the same, but I had thought it would get better) the gas consumption because even in 5th gear, I end up cruising on the highway at 3400-3600rpms whereas before I would cruise at 3000rpms (140-150kph). And I do mostly highway driving since I live in the suburbs so I had hoped for better highway mileage. Oh well...
Increased Ride Hieght
I had thought about this prior to doing the swap, but I never thought that it'd be quite so bad...
Long story short, when you lose the automatic transmission, you lose a good couple hundred pounds or so along with the torque converter. Added to that, a good 20lbs with a lightened flywheel compared to an oem flywheel, and the front of my car is now sitting much higher than it had before. I had about a finger and a half in the front after swapping to my i4 eibach front springs (which, for the record, costed me $200 since I paid $400 for a new set, kept the fronts and then sold the entire set of v6 for $200) but now there is a good 3 finger gap. The only good thing right now is that going over speedbumps and the like is easier as well as going down ramps.
I just received my set of dropzone springs (not the best, I know, but I got them cheap) and I can't wait to get the front dropped back down to how it should be. It wouldn't be so noticeable if it wasn't for the fact that my lip now sits a good 6 inches off the ground
Long story short, the swap took me 2 weeks to complete. Faaaaar beyond my scheduled 3 day weekend
In reality though, most of the work was done and completed on time, but it took me a week to first find the hafl-shaft that I needed, then deal with the entire bearing mount problem. Then it took me another week to find a driver's side axle as well.
I'm sure that I've forgotten stuff since the swap was a bit of time ago now, so feel free to post questions and I will answer them and also add them to the original post for everybody to see and learn. I will be updating my cardomain page as soon as I can so people know what I actually put into my car as well.
First EVER Gen 3 Supercharged V6 5-Speed!! (Swap Hints and Tips) 56K = No go.
1991 Toyota MR2
1996 Toyota Camry
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