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R154 ? THE Ultimate Auto to Manual Swap Info Thread

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#1 · (Edited)
R154 – THE Ultimate Auto to Manual Swap Info Thread

(Please do not send us any PMs about parts or the process unless you must. It's better to post any questions or comments on here so anyone who reads this thread can benefit from them.)

Well, I FINALLY finished my R154 swap on my auto. The swap itself only took us 3 days (Friday, Saturday, and today Monday). And we only needed to wait until today to finish because I overlooked a few parts and needed to wait until today to get those so we could finish up. Otherwise, this swap can easily be done in a day-and-a-half, two days with the correct planning and research to avoid all surprises.

It was mainly the planning process that took so long. I guess a combination of me choosing to go boost first, which I did back in July. And between work and travel and saving up, etc., I didn't finish gathering everything until this month.

I definitely must give credit to all those who posted R154 swap threads on this forum, because that's basically how I got almost all of my info.
A few months ago another local member and I were both gathering parts for this swap. We both have '01 automatics (now i guess i can say i HAD an '01 auto ;-)), so we basically ended up planning this whole thing together. This really helped because he knew a hell of a lot more about many specifics than I did, and on Saturday when I realized how much crap I was missing, I was lucky enough to have him lend me a few last parts since he already had them. In other words, I would have been F*CKED without the extra planning and info he gathered that I had overlooked.

Another reason it took so long was because there was never just one place where we found all of our info. We found a ton of extremely helpful threads, but never one place will ALL the info. I guess it was because everyone's swap can be unique given all the different things you can choose from (trannies, clutch setups, driveshafts). So since we ended up having to look in a hundred places to gather all the info we needed, we decided to make this thread which will include EVERYTHING you will need to swap an R154 manual into your automatic IS. (most of this info should be useful for ANY auto to manual swap. i guess just a little research will help you separate what you need from this list and what you dont if you're going with a different manual tranny (V160, W58, etc.))

1) To start, you obviously need an R154. There's a few different one's out there, we have two different ones. (can range from $400 to $1300, NOT including 1JZ bellhousing).

LO 21 - '94+ Soarer/Chaser with remote shifter assembly

(what a damn GORGEOUS tranny)

DC5ROY - same as '86-'92 mkIII supra turbo, but directly from Japan already with 1J bellhousing. '92 SC300 shifter recommended (part # below).


2) You need to choose a clutch setup. We each went with something different.

LO 21 - ACT TS2-HDG6 6 puck sprung, rated to about 522 ft-lb of torque (retail $750. can easily be found for about $600 shipped. a bit of a heavier clutch pedal feel, but not even close to as bad as i thought it would be, no chatter whatsoever, decent engagement considering clutch hasn't been broken in yet. after a few drives it was engaging smooth as stock :))

DC5ROY - OS Giken Twin Disc with Pull-to-Push assembly (will update with a review once installed)


3) We both chose a 1-piece aluminum driveshaft from The Driveshaft Shop (Great! Definitely worth it. No noise or rattle. Extremely more responsive than stock). You could also choose a 1-piece steel one, or have one custom made and balanced either 1-piece or have the front part of your stock one custom extended.


4) You will need tranny fluid. We both went with Redline MTL (you will need 4 quarts, about $50) which is the one that we concluded works best with the R154s (whereas Royal Purple has been known to work well with V160s?)


5) For performance IS's, it is recommended to remove the Clutch Dampening Device (CDD) to reduce that "soft", "slipping" feeling of the clutch. It's the rather hefty hexagonally shaped line union just off of the master cylinder. It should probably be replaced with a regular line union. At a parts store that sells brake line unions, the that fits is the Brass Tite Part #: 43512, 3/16" tube, M10-1.0 thread. Should cost about $2.50.


6) The R154s will sit a bit lower than your stock tranny, so the crossmember wont bolt up flush with the frame of the car. Some people have reported to have had to add spacers and drill new holes in the frame. I guess I got lucky on how my tranny lined up. All I had to do was add some steel washers (5 for each bolt) and found some of the same 12mm bolts but about 1" longer laying around the shop and bolted the crossmember to the existing holes.


7) We HIGHLY recommend making sure you have absolutely everything you need before you start this project to minimize the downtime your car will have. That way you also wont have to run around your city for a few days looking for the rest of the parts or waiting for things to show up in the mail.


8) And the rest of the stuff you need is all Lexus/Toyota Stuff.
Below is each part # you will need with an estimated RETAIL-ish price. Actual retail prices might be a bit more, wholesale price if you have a local dealer that will sell you at those prices might be a bit less. Or, you could also contact Jeff at Champion Toyota in Houston, Texas or Carson Toyota in California for decent prices.


BRAKE PEDAL & BRACKET
Break Pedal Sub-Assy 47106-53010 $108.75
Break Pedal Pad 31321-53010 $26.12

CONSOLE BOX & BRACKET
Shifting Hole Cover Sub-Assy 58808-53020-c0 $117.96
Console Upper Panel Sub-Assy 58804-53011-c0 $115.51

CLUTCH PEDAL & FLEXIBLE HOSE
Clutch Pedal Sub-Assy 31301-53050 $52.10
Spring (For clutch pedal) 90949-03119 $2.26
Cushion No. 1 90541-06036 $2.91
Bush (For clutch Pedal) 90386-13015 $4.38
Nut (For clutch pedal stopper) 94130-01001 $0.89
Bush (For clutch Pedal turnover) 90389-06055 $2.03
Compression Spring 90949-03111 $14.76
Clutch Pedal Pad 31321-53010 $26.12
Clutch Pedal Shaft 90101-10015 $1.08
Clutch Pedal Shaft Collar 90387-10003 $4.73
Clutch Pedal Spring Holder 31353-35010 $11.52
Pin (for Clutch master cylinder push rod) 90240-08006 $1.80
Bush (for Clutch master cylinder push rod) 90386-08036 $2.31
Clutch Master cylinder to flexible hose tube 31481-53060 $9.61
Clutch No.1 Hose 90947-02c83 $41.05
Clutch Master cylinder to 2 way tube 31481-53051 $15.26
Clutch Release cylinder to flexible hose tube 31482-53030 $7.47
Flexible Hose Bracket 31484-53040 $9.28
Clutch Pedal Support Sub-Assy 55107-53030 $55.18
Ring 90082-61005 $1.62
Washer 90206-08001 $0.98
Bush 90386-08036 $2.31
Clip 90468-16142 $0.95
Washer 94622-11000 $1.42
Bolt 90080-11497 $0.77

CLUTCH MASTER CYLINDER
Clutch Master Cylinder Assy 31410-53020 $87.60
(the following is a breakdown of the
individual parts, the above assembly will
come with all of these already assembled)
Clutch Master Cylinder Kit 04311-12110 $26.93
Clutch Master Cylinder Reservoir Sub-Assy 31402-22020 $36.61
Clutch Reservoir Grommet 31417-35010 $2.18
Clutch Master Cyl Reservoir Float 31426-22020 $3.80
Clutch Master Cyl Reservoir Filler Cap Assy 47230-20040 $10.43

TRANSMISSION STUFF
1JZ-GTE R154 Bell Housing 31111-14110 $350.00
Flywheel Inspection Cover - L 31101-14010 $64.68
Flywheel Inspection Cover - R 31102-14010 $64.68
Flywheel Inspection Cover Gasket - L 31122-14010 $4.78
Flywheel Inspection Cover Gasket - R 31124-14010 $4.78
Flywheel Inspection Cover Bolts - L 90080-11228 $1.66 (qty. 2)
Flywheel Inspection Cover Bolts - R 91661-40814 $2.46 (qty. 2)
Bellhousing bolts 91611-61045 $11.07 (qty. 9)
Transmission Shift Fork 31204-14031 $55.72
Transmission Shift Fork Hook ??? ???
Lexus 1992 SC300 Shifter 33530-24040 $136.04
Supra mkIII Slave Cylinder 31470-14050 $51.71
Rear Tailshaft Oil Seal 90311-40001 $9.54

CLUTCH STUFF
1JZ-GTE Flywheel 13405-46030 $248.91
Flywheel Bolts 90910-02103 $52.56 (qty. 8)
Clutch-to-Flywheel Bolts ??? ??? (qty. 6)
Clutch Hub Release Bearing 90363-45012 $26.81
Throw Out (Pilot Bearing) 90363-12002-77 $5.42
BIG Bearing ??? ???
Snap Ring 96152-00450 $2.15
Plate Washer 90201-71001 $1.24
Wave Washer 90206-72001 $1.01
Shaft Snap Ring 90520-67001 $2.75
Washer 90201-45023 $1.96
Clutch Spring Pin 31264-14040 $14.09

LABOR
(this is an estimate. obviously you may just do this yourself. or have a buddy do it. or have a shop quote you something less. this is totally up to you.)
Labor $1,500.00


GRAND TOTAL: ABOUT $5,950. I personally did it for about $4,500 including EVERYTHING. Depending on which R154 you choose, what clutch setup you go with, whether you go with all new parts or (somehow) find used parts, and what you get charged for install, these numbers can VASTLY vary.

We hold absolutely no responsibility if you buy parts that you didn't end up needing or if you mess something up following our guidelines. This is basically just a compilation of all the info we ended up gathering over the past few months either from past members who did similar swaps or from personal research.

WIRING
this is for '01's. I'm almost certain that this is not the same for '02+ IS's (mainly since our '01 IS's draw a speed signal from the ABS, so nothing needed to be wired for that :)).
There will be 3 plugs that you unplug from the auto tranny. One of them will have 9 wires coming out of it. THIS IS THE ONLY ONE YOU NEED TO MESS WITH. If I remember correctly, the wires come out of some little circles, some are smaller circles (yellow ones), some are larger circles(red ones).

:::For the starter, take the two wires coming out of the 2 larger red circles (its a solid black wire and a black/white wire), cut them and splice them TO EACH OTHER.

:::For the reverse lights to work, my tranny had two wires coming out of the side, a red one and a white one. on the SAME plug where you spliced the two black wired, there will be two red wires. splice these two red wires to the two wires coming out of the tranny (this may be different depending on which R154 you get and what condition its in. unfortunately i can only contribute how my specific wire setup was.)

*if for any reason your wires are different colors or your IS is a different year, all we did was hook up a multimeter to the battery and stuck the little probe into each hole until the reverse lights came on.
AND YES, WHEN I PUT THE CAR IN REVERSE, THE LITTLE "R" IN MY DASH LIGHTS UP ORANGE LIKE IT USED TO, WHICH IS SWEEEET!!
 
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#2 · (Edited)
oh CRAP! i didn't mean to click "Submit" yet. meant to click "Preview". didn't want to post without PICTURES, but i guess i now have to have them up by tomorrow now! (today, that is.. after i sleep some)

EDIT: i haven't finished cleaning out the interior, installing some sort of dynomat product for sound insulation, and putting in my new shift boot, so i wasn't gunna post pictures yet. but because of my idiot accidental post last night, i guess i had to get the pics posted up today ;-)


my WAREHOUSE of a car before heading to the shop (mind you, my car was like this for WEEKS, couldn't stand driving around like that anymore)



Taking center console and auto shifter assembly apart


Tranny OUT!



Trunk and backseat getting emptier :)



stock 1JZ flywheel in. beautiful. (didn't want to go with any lightweight one)


Driveshaft in


here's one of the only damn reasons why this swap took longer than it ever should have. God damn plethora of wires from Clifford alarm system, then add to that all the boost-related gauge wiring, AND the actual Haltech. All shoved under there sloppier than a drunken ho on a saturday night street corner. so we unziptied EVERYTHING and reorganized it all. we actually ended up with A LOT more room under there than there was before, even WITH the whole clutch pedal assembly installed.



a simple plate i cut out of sheet metal to cover up the hole. bolted into the holes that the auto shifter assembly used to be bolted into



BEFORE


AFTER!!



BEFORE


AFTER (that's in neutral. about a half an inch farther back than i would have liked but better than it being half an inch forward!)
like i mentioned, this is NOT how it'll look once i get a few free hours to reorganize the interior. i just put that stock shiftboot there in the meantime for reference, and to show you guys.



this is something that i investigated for a LONG time and never found a straight answer. from the engine (where the bellhousing starts) to where our shifter would did DEAD CENTER in our center console is 29 1/4 inches. i hope that really helps someone when choosing the tranny or shifter or just to make sure things will line up before doing the actual swap.
 
#14 ·
awesome, just awesome!!
haha. thanks man. i always appreciate all the comments and stuff you provide. keep em coming! +rep right back ;-)

geeeeezzzz. i thought i wrote small books, but thats a novel. good stuff, i like the heavy amount of research you obviously did. props and plus rep
yep. thanks! DC5ROY and i spoke about this all the time the past few months just trying to not overlook anything.

Nice post Leon. I true +rep.
and thank you as well! +rep to you

Good stuff Leon! I didn't know you were going to post the info so soon. +rep to you my man. Can't wait to have mine in!
YOU'RE NEXT............

Does it "feel" more powerful? lol
haha. how about we make another round craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazy ass long road trips back to SRT and we trade rides for a day (or three). i LOOOOOVE your car. at some point i'd like to chat with you and compare some details of our SRT setups now that we've had them a few months and are quite a bit more familiar with the ins and outs of our setups.

Leon,
For the wiring part. in case im using a w58 do u think the tranny should also have two wires coming out for the reverse lights?

Stan
hey stan. sorry i can't help you there bud. like DC5ROY mentioned, its been mentioned before. and my guess is you can easily find a W58 off another IS that already has the plugs or wires you'll need. good luck!

+ rep
wish this was around 6 months ago
The only thing I did differently was run a 3 foot stainless steel clutch line instead of messing with the cdd, and the hard line.
Also does your cruise control work? mine does not and I think it is related to a "speed sensor" code but my speedometer works fine
hey thanks. +rep back
yea, that's probably what i should have done. i ended up ordering a few of the hard lines by accident, so just decided to go that route.
and good question!! i haven't tried the cruise control yet. my guess is no but i'll give it a shot tomorrow.
if not, is there a way to wire it back up??

Are you still running the AuTo cluster?

Either way, awesome write up! I bet it makes the car 10 times more fun to drive!! super jealous

Oh and I love how you make an OEM grille work with the C-West Bumper, it looks much better than the mesh that was there before.

+RAPE
hey thanks dude. +rep right back.
yep, same cluster i've always had. i wanna keep my true miles, but i kinda like how nothing is lit up until i go into reverse.
definitely fun to drive, and yea, i think that grill looks way better. it has a broken tab so i took a few minutes to sloppily cut it with some metal cutters to kind of just fit it in there to see what it would look like. i haven't taken the time to do a non-broken one neatly, but it seems like lately the exterior of my car has taken waaaaaaaaaay a back seat to my boost project from last summer and now my tranny swap project. so maybe now i'll have the motivation to fix up the exterior again..
 
#4 ·
geeeeezzzz. i thought i wrote small books, but thats a novel. good stuff, i like the heavy amount of research you obviously did. props and plus rep
 
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#10 · (Edited)
pictures up!!

a few things i didn't mention in the first post.
this swap can be EASILY done on a weekend, IF you have planned it all out, don't end up needing to run around or wait till a business day to get parts, and know what you're doing (or do it with someone that knows what they're doing).
it's not AT ALL difficult, but you've gotta have the right tools.
if i remember this all correctly, our weekend went something like this:

Friday:
around 5pm, took center console apart while letting the car cool down from having driven to the shop.
put car up on the lift, took out the stock driveshaft, disconnected the auto tranny from everything underneath, and dropped it.

Saturday:
bolted flywheel up to the engine.
put pressure plate and clutch disc onto the tranny.
bolted tranny up (it didn't seem like we would have needed to, but we banged out the tunnel a bit where the starter is just to make sure the tranny wouldn't be banging up against anything down there.)
installed the driveshaft. (after we were done and ended up taking it for a drive, something was making some grinding noise. sounded like maybe from the driveshaft. so we put it back on the lift and saw that the driveshaft was hitting the gas tank heat shield. so we banged that in a little bit too with a crow bar.)
cut hole in firewall and installed master cylinder and the hard lines.
began pedal installation but got fed up after a while of being upside down under the dash for so long trying to organzie sh*t under there, and just called it a day around 7pm.
(we hadn't started till about noon, at which point i realized i was missing the big bearing for the clutch. took me an hour to go get it from my friend and bring it back to the shop. THEN we realized i didn't have nor ever knew about the clutch-to-flywheel bolts. they're kind of purplish in color, stronger than normal bolts. so had to locate 6 of those on the spot. luckily another local shop had some.)

Sunday:
just finished pedal assemblies.

Monday:
had to get a new slave cylinder since the used one i had was leaking. put that in. waited for the flexible hose to come in the mail (we used a stainless steel braided flexible hose for an '86-'92 mkIII supra. if you that or something similar to it, then you wont heed the flexible hose from the parts list. and if anyone can chime in on this, we couldn't figure out where the hell the flexible hose bracket goes. there was nothing under there where it seemed it would bolt up to. if any stock manual guys have their car up on a lift any time soon, PLEASE snap a picture for me of that little silver bracket and the slave clyinder, etc.).
put tranny fluid in.
bled the clutch lines.
and we were DONE!

and since we did the swap this weekend at my friend's shop and it was just to two of us, we took a bit of time to install my new intercooler that i had been wanting to put in to replace the SRT one. (its about the same volume, just wider and not as tall. looks more like it "belongs" there in my opinion).



BEFORE



AFTER
 
#12 ·
+ rep
wish this was around 6 months ago
The only thing I did differently was run a 3 foot stainless steel clutch line instead of messing with the cdd, and the hard line.
Also does your cruise control work? mine does not and I think it is related to a "speed sensor" code but my speedometer works fine
 
#13 ·
Are you still running the AuTo cluster?

Either way, awesome write up! I bet it makes the car 10 times more fun to drive!! super jealous

Oh and I love how you make an OEM grille work with the C-West Bumper, it looks much better than the mesh that was there before.

+RAPE
 
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#19 ·
GETT REAADDDDDDDYYYYYYY!!!! hahaha. we can't have done any more planning than we did, now just gotta get 'er done!!
 
#22 ·
^^^ well, the truth is, many people do the swaps for many different reasons. mine was that i got the car in the summer of '01. doesn't sound like that long ago, but 7 years ago i would have never even thought of getting a manual. didn't even cross my mind. not to mention, it wasn't even an option until the '02's came out.

another reason might be if you go boost and know that your auto tranny wont hold the power, instead of spending the money upgrading it, you might just do the tranny swap right away. that wasn't an option for me at the time so i did end up upgrading the auto tranny, but sold it after i did the manual swap.

and to be honest, there was no ripping apart whatsoever. it was an extremely simple and straightforward of a project. if it's the inside that looked "ripped apart" to you, that center console takes about 3 minutes to take off and put back on.

and if you're referring to the pedal assemblies that look a bit of elbow grease to fit in there, it was only because of all of the aftermarket electronics (alarm, boost gauges) i had bunched under there since the original installers just shoved tons of wires up there. so it actually turned into a good chance to organize all that clutter, which we did.

and spending so much money? after selling my auto tranny, i paid about $3k. not to mention i spent an extra $1k to get the soarer r154 instead of the regular one whichc would have costed me much less. that's not too large of an amount, per se, to make such an "impactful" change to your IS. i say impactful, not sure what other word to use, because its something you see and feel and use EVERY SINGLE time you drive your car. so its not like installing a navi system that you only sometimes use (not to mention, it would probably cost more than my swap did).

and selling my '01 (which i would NEEEEEEEEEVER ever do because that car is priceless to me, after all these years and memories etc etc) to buy a used 1st gen manual would for sure cost me more that $3k out of pocket. not to mention i'd end up with some strangers car, and God knows how many times that guy may have dropped or slipped the clutch, etc.

just my .02 on a project like this..
 
#23 ·
Well said... not to mention that the factory 5-speed (w55) that come in the IS, is not the most favorable when it comes to big power. It holds less than an auto tranny from what I have read.
 
#24 ·
^^^ you get started yet?!?!?
 
#26 ·
i'm planning to do that swap on mine...but i'm actually W55 at the moment....iwas thinking to add some bling bling this year but i had some clutch slipping problems this falls on the dyno witch didn't help me to go over 350rwhp....I have to do R154 swap this spring !!!

is there anyone here who's using the SPEC stage 3+ clutch ?

they said it's "streetable" but can hold up to 625TQ wich is where i'm planning to go in couple years ( the mystic 500rwhp )

see this auction :
eBay Motors: Spec Stage 3+ Clutch kit 7mgte Toyota Supra Turbo MK3 (item 380091609794 end time Feb-18-09 20:59:04 PST)
 
#27 ·
I'm not sure about the Spec 3+ clutch, maybe you might want to check out an MK3 supra forum. What I can tell you is, this tranny does not like a lot of shock when it comes to clutch engangement. As long as the Spec clutch has a sprung disk I am sure you should be ok. The enemy from what I have read (no personal experience) is unsprung disk with the combination of a heavy duty pressure plate = shocking the tranny! If you plan on rebuilding the tranny like with Marlin Crawler, then you can pretty much put any set-up you want. I went with an OS Giken twin disk clutch, because it is capable of holding 600+hp and has a smoother engagement than most heavy duty single disk clutch systems. Hope that answers your question.
 
#28 ·
I was seeing in other older threads that the car has to be "tricked" to think it's in neutral or it would go into limp mode... and that CELs would pop up on on swap like this.

Have you had any codes or have you see anything like this?

I was thinking of doing this swap, since I also don't want to get rid of my SBM, but I'm pretty much stock performance-wise (no engine management, etc.). I just wanted to know what to expect.
 
#34 ·
I have 11 CEL's because of my 01 auto to r154 swap, so I did the 5min. fix and removed the bulb... Yes you bypass the neutral safety switch to get the car to start... no limp mode here after 6 months and that is not using any engine management (I am bone stock other than the r154)
 
#29 ·
^^^ since your car is '01, you don't have to worry about that.

i'm not sure of the specifics of it, but i know '01s ECUs are different than '02-'05s. there's no wiring you would need to do except the starter, and the reverse light wires if you want your reverse lights to light up (even though you technically dont HAVE to do that.)

if you want your SBM in manual, then why not just to a stock IS manual tranny (W55). you'll save some money doing that instead of the R154, it'll probably shift a bit more smoothely, you know it'll lign up perfectly with your center console, AND you get to use a SWEEET short shifter (B&M, PLP, whatever!). i kinda wish i coulda gotten away with a w55, but i would blow it for sure.

and did you install an aftermarket LSD? (i'm guessing in '01 it didn't come stock like that?)
 
#30 ·
I want to have the option of going forced induction later without issues, so the R154 is perfect for me. I just wanted to do this first.

Thanks for the info. Does your cruise control work after all?

As for the LSD, my car came with it as a $390 factory option.
 
#31 ·
Hi, is a drive shaft absolutely necessary ? I have a guy locally that is trying to work out a deal on swapping his 2jzgte/r154 setup into my is, but could I drive the car for a few weeks ( carefully ) ? Because I dont want to order one and end up not going through on the deal.

Thanks
 
#32 ·
yes, a driveshaft is absolutely necessary. the R154 is shorter than the IS tranny and requires a longer driveshaft, so the stock driveshaft wont reach the tranny (hence, not exactly possible to drive a RWD car for a few weeks without a driveshaft ;-))
 
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#35 · (Edited)
Well guy's, the car went under the knife last night. We started off by installing the clutch pedal assembly/clutch master and swapping out the brake pedal. I could not beleive how we were getting owned by what seems to be a pretty simple procedure. I know that LO 21 was mentioning how his was a PITA because of all the aftermarket wiring he had by where the clutch pedal goes. Once we had that done we thought we were in the clear. we pulled out the auto brake pedal arm and realized that the manual pedal arm I purchased (the one in the parts list) had this sensor and mechanism attached to it that the auto one did not have. It was restricing the pin that holds the pedal to the brake master to go through. We decided to remove that sensor/mechanism from the pedal arm. Once we had that out it just got even better. The hole is now to big (bigger than the one on the auto one). Luckily we don't call my friend Magiver for nothing. He ended up welding a coller or something in the hole so that way it had the right size bore. My suggestion, buy a used complete pedal assembly that way you have all the parts, or buy them all new from the dealer. If you don't, this is what your in for.
On a brighter note, today we will be dropping the tranny, DS, wiring what needs to be wired, clutch lines, etc.
Saturday-I am waiting on a input shaft seal to come in, replace that, install the tranny, etc.
 
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