Toyota E153 transmission swap

[nerd racing]

where's the pics?

[mx-3_4evr]

he said after dinner

[wheresthericego]

Moving up would be better then forward but how will that work with hood clearance?

[therieldeal]

well adjusting the exhaust is no biggie as i am cutting out a straight section to add a resonator anyway. the shifter is a cable linkage, so there is plenty of room to go up, down, left, right, etc

we are building all four mounts and a new crossmember anyway, regardless of whether or not we go forward or up. thinking about it again i may actually have to do a little of both. the inner cv joints are interfering with those vertical gusset parts of the k-frame.

anyway i'm uploading some pics now

[therieldeal]

the car as it arrived at the shop

getting the plate bolted up to the trans... cutting bolts to length etc.

here you can see the clearance notch for the starter. ended up a little bigger than i hoped, but we will make a nice cover to hide it later (or maybe a scatter shield)

clearance notch for plate to engine bolt head

tada! it fits together

back side

another angle

making the intermediate shaft bracket (re-using original MR2 bracket)

voila! 3/8" plate steel, shouldnt go anywhere...

this is a shot of the initial drop-in. a groundbreaking moment in mazda tuning in the US?

better angle

heating and hammering the frame rail. the trans just about fit where it needed to go, but it was in contact with the body.

[yunvmyegt]

looking good so far.....

[Georonimo]

You da man jon! I say up and foward 1 inch! The car has been lowered at least that much... and the Celica GT-Four has exactly 1 inch longer of a wheel base than this generation escort (when you decide to go AWD you can re-use the complete celica driveshaft with no mods... and you can make me a copy of your upper trans mount right after you make yours )

[MD323]

all of it looks awesome

though i do cry alittle with i see people heat and bend unibodies such thin guage with become brittle after that much heat.

too each their own i guess.

[therieldeal]

idk that was his suggestion. we could just as easily notch it and weld in new material. is that what you'd suggest? it clears now but barely, so the whole thing is coming out again tomorrow for either more heat and pounding, or notching...

[MD323]

if it was me i would notch it and box it, either way buy the rust protectant with the long straw and spray the inside of that rails as either will compromise its rusty protection.

[FE3-323]

WICKED
I'll be following behind you with a bolt in FE3 next week.
Im subscribed jon, so i'll be following your progress

[MD323]

To add to my previous post, bending it cold is less damaging to the metal than heating it in this case but boxing the notch frame is still the way I'd go since you have the tools a a capable welder.

[nerd racing]

I'm with MD323 on the cutting and boxing.

[mx-3_4evr]

Sweet! Cut and box that rail!

[frogi323]

wow nice work



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