jeph_tsi

good, I'm glad to see interest. It may be a little while before I get to the sq unit, the first will be for a lexus is300 that I'm currently swapping. I've currently got almost all of the parts put together for the lexus so it should be in my shop this week to start swapping so hopefully I'll get the gauge cluster on the bench to start playing with and post vids of the progress I make with its gauges. The sq gauges should be much easier than the lexus so if I pull it off the sq units should be no problem. Luckily I have a very clever computer nerd for a friend and he is confident that he can pull this off (plus I'm jz swapping his beemer in the spring and he wants a translator too!). another Idea I had for this translator would be multiple outputs for different gauge faces, basically I will use a 30psi sending unit to feed the translator and leave 3 outputs to the gauge. The outputs would be for 20, 25, and 30 psi (maybe even 15 for those who run lower boost). This way you can choose which gauge face you want and use the appropriate output from the translator. This would be good because if you ever change your mind on which boost level you want on the gauge all you would have to do is get the new face and change the output from the translator. This feature would mainly be from one of my pet peeves... I don't like boost gauges that show way more boost than you'll ever use.

From the same site, here is a v160 shtortened to r154 length... http://i6.photobucke...09-23161230.jpg

sweet! that makes this much easier, although I'm still thinking of making a new overlay and sending unit to do a 30 psi gauge.

Thats exactly why I like this idea, the boost gauge would be an absolute match wether lit or not. I was thinking of trying 2 different ones, one will use the stock gauge (this may be difficult though), and for those who want to go further than 14psi the other would use a new gauge face that goes up to 30. There doesn't seem to really be any interest here for it, but I will still be making one for my car.

that one looks better than most and maybe I'm just too picky but I'm after a perfect match.

yeah, the autometer has a bezel and just doesn't match the factory gauges at all. Every time I drive the car I've got to look at it and it just irritates me.

thats what I have right now.... hate it, I'd like to have either all autometer or all stock.

I've always been annoyed that our stock boost gauges aren't accurate. I don't like the look of stock gauges and aftermarket mixed in. While I'm not a huge fan of our gauges in stock form, I still prefer keeping that original sleeper appearance of all stock gauges. So here's what started this idea... I'm currently swapping an is300, using a vvti 2jz with its stock ecu, this is going to kill the gas mileage gauge in the lexus (hate those things anyways). So the idea is to print a gauge overlay to make the gas mileage gauge into a boost gauge and build a translator to make it work as a boost gauge. I would do this by getting an electronic boost gauge sending unit, inputting that signal into the 'translator' and then the corrected signal will go to the factory cluster as boost. Sooo, if I can pull that off I'm thinking of building one for my conquest so I can return to a stock cluster. Even though it will be remaining a boost gauge a new gauge overlay will still have to be part of the kit because the sending unit won't match the scale on our factory gauge, luckily it will be able to go higher than 14psi. I totally plan on making one for myself, and once all of that work is done replicating it will be easy, so would anyone be interested? Also I need to come up with a price that is fair, so whatcha think?

btw, the shifter on the v160 can be shortened, so I'm sure that it could be fitted to our cars with a little work but without shortening the shifter I think its around 2", maybe 2.5" too long but its been a while, I've got the measurements somewhere but I can't seem to find them. I'll actually be going to look a some jdm engines soon and could measure one for you. Edit... with the vvti 2jz's from what I understand some of them have an immobilizer system which makes the ecu almost useless, I'm not sure how to tell if you have one with an immobilizer either.

nah, I'm fine, lol! Thats the annoying thing about forums, a lot of the time I think I type too seriously and get misunderstood. I'm not upset at all, and I know I'm no absolute expert either. I can say that I'm really impressed with the r154, and I know my car isn't pushing it too much, the one in my 1jz quest is bone stock but at my level thats not saying too much. I'm currently swapping a lexus is300 with a 2jz vvti and a r154 that has had the mc upgrade. It actually came from a swapped mustang that was putting low 600's to the wheels, the guy put a decent amount of mileage on it and claims to have never had a problem with it. Of course I can't tell you how well it held up until I personally drive it in about a week or so when I complete this swap. As far as how much hp they can handle I'm not sure, my goals aren't usually that high. A good place to go for more help would be supraforums, tons of info on there. I've done a few swaps before and a decent amount of custom work and always try to build an affordable car, here's what I like about an r154, if it fails or something within it breaks you can get a new one reasonably cheap and be back on the road. If you have the v160 and failure happens its gonna cost you, and upgrades and rebuilds don't come cheap either for them. If I really wanted a 6 speed I'd probably go for a t56, they are much more common and proven, also with upgradeability the sky is the limit and finding someone who can work on them is much easier. I'm really curious about the new kits to adapt the nissan 350/370z 6 speed to the jz motors, those transmissions can handle a lot of power and cost about the same as an r154, if not less! I haven't looked into it too much but have seen the kit for around 1800 for everything but the transmission itself, this would still be cheaper than the v160, but the z's transmission does look to be pretty long so I'm not sure if it would work in a sq.

I also have the r154 in my swap and I like it, it is a very strong transmission and if you get the right one (mk3 supra) it fits our cars perfectly lengthwise, although the width is an issue. for around 4x the price I don't see that much gain in the v160, really I don't see much gain there at all. With higher horsepower cars I've always preferred a 5 speed to a six, the shorter gears just mean too much shifting for me. With traction already an issue in my first couple gears I can't imagine making them even shorter, and thats with a stock 1jz, lol! Now I know the joke is we're all too poor for the v160, and I'll admit it definitely exceeds my budget, but even if it was within my budget it still wouldn't happen. I would more likely do the t56 first, or even the nissan 350/370z 6 speed now that there is a kit for it but I still think any of those are wasted money. Too bad you aren't in my area, I'd gladly take you for a ride in my quest (although right now its a little rough) and show you how well the r154 behaves in our cars. Heck, ask anyone that went to pf12, I tried to give everyone a chance for a ride in my car, it got a real workout that weekend, and not too many complaints.

if your going standalone the vvti is useless, need the factory ecu to operate the vvt solonoid. If your going for that much hp do you really want more shifting and shorter gears?

As far as the vvti 2jz goes it can work, but you need to be careful when buying one. It is the later model of the 2jz's and I think a lot of them have an immobilizer that is extremely difficult to deal with, I'm not sure how to tell if there is an immobilizer though. I'm actually currently swapping a vvti 2jz with a r154 into an is300 without any difficulty.

see this thread http://www.starquestclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=135245 I actually just responded to your question on the 6 speed there. With how well the r154 from the mk3 supra turbo fits and the durability of that transmission it works too much more easily and cheaply to consider the v160. What is it that makes you want the 6 speed?

http://i1093.photobucket.com/albums/i430/jeph_tsi/20130131_131426_zpsea2bc96f.jpg here are a few pics of some transmissions I currently have in my shop. on the left a w55 from a lexus is300, center km132 from a starquest, and a r154 from a mk3 supra on the right with a 1jz bellhousing. I wish I had a v160 but I'm afraid I'm too po to ford it! The r154 is missing the shifter in the picture (having it lengthened), when the shifter is on it it puts the shifter over the front of the driveshaft yoke. When gathering parts for a swap you need to realize there are many different r154's and the shortest one is from a mk3 supra, its a perfect fit and also has a mechanical speedo while the others have electronic (although the speedo sending units can easily be changed). As far as a good fit I don't think anything fits our narrow tunnel very well, I'm planning to do a jz swap to an automatic sq with the wider tunnel in the spring and hopefully this will fit the r154's wide butt a little better! I really think the v160 is a bad choice, it is an overrated transmission and costs way too much. for so much less the r154 is a stout transmission and can be upgraded with the marlin crawler kit for reasonably cheap making it a very solid transmission at that point.

This is true, but there is an easy solution to the length... The v160 uses a tripod mounted shifter that extends it behind the transmission, this can easily be shortened. The biggest problem will be fitting it into the smaller sq tunnel, but this will be an issue with all of the toyota transmissions as our transmissions are way narrower.

yep, if you have the money though it should fit, that is of course if you consider the r154 a good fit... after some hammer time! The v160 (getrag 6 speed) is awfully expensive, but lately even the r154's are going up in price. Before spending that much on a transmission you may want to check out the gearing situation, our rearends are much taller than the supras and with the r154 the 5th gear is tall enough that even if you gear down your rearend you'll probably still be at decent revs on the highway.

Cars are rarely worth the sum of their upgrades, especially a conquest, lol! Your car looks great and has a lot of time and money in it, but it was customized to your taste. Personally I don't think 20k is crazy, but it won't move quick at that price. Mechanically that car is awesome, but that front end is gonna be a love it or hate it type of thing. If I were interested in buying the car I would factor in replacing the front back to stock body panels (maybe an 83 hood) and this would cost quite a bit to do a quality job matching the rest of the car. Thats the problem with a custom "turn key" high performance car, lots of money invested making it exactly what you want means you need to either sell it at a loss or find someone with exactly your taste, and it may take a while to find this person. A good example of this is the car in my sig, I bought it for 3,500 with a 1jz/r154 swapped into it, now I know it has a lot less work in it than yours but do the math... 1jz, r154, 83 hood, fresh paint, shp's, and a rust free shell, the guy I purchased this from had a whole lot more than 3,500 in this car. He could have gotten more for it, but I doubt he would have gotten what he had in it without sitting on it for a while.

yeah, sq's are definitely a sickness! Mine has been off the road for a little while now because of a stupid deer, miss it everyday. so what turbo did you have on it when it made 297?

I found it on craigslist with a bad rod knock, shortly before the knock started it was for sale for 3500, I ended up getting it for 800 without the turbo. It sounds like its been passed around and abused for a while, the guy I got it off of didn't have it for too long and he got it off of the guy who traded the 240's for it. He was claiming huge hp and said it was on megasquirt when it had all that power, but when I got it it had the factory ecu with a maft and delphi's, no way it was making 500 hp like that, lol!

yep, boho has it about right, but the r154 5 speed is getting much more expensive lately. I've seen 2jz's with r154's going for around 3500 but this isn't a factory combo. The cheapest way to get a r154 is with a 1jz dropout as you can get those for around 2,000 to 2,500. If you get a auto 2jz dropout and then try to put together a r154 for it this becomes expensive, I'd suggest joining supraforums and keeping an eye on the classifieds. I am currently doing a 2jz/r154 swap to a lexus is300 and am going to end up with an extra na 2jz and 2 w58 transmissions to sell for cheap if your interested but the w58 isn't as strong as the r154. Depending on where you are in ohio there is a shop here in cincinnati called zerolift that sells these dropouts at reasonable prices, although right now I don't think they have any r154's.

yeah, I'm a bit of a hoarder, lol! I'm afraid the green shell wouldn't be worth much in its current state and the shipping to tx alone would cost more than it is worth. As crappy as the paint job is on it, the car is incredibly rust free, something I'm not used to seeing around here which is why I just couldn't part it completely, did it come from the south originally? I hit a deer a few months ago in my 1jz swapped quest and while it is very fixable, I figured I'd put the green one to use to take advantage of the larger tunnel. I still haven't done anything yet, but plan on having it done for pf13, still not sure on if I will keep the purple color or go with fiji.

here are a few pics from when I picked it up http://i1093.photobucket.com/albums/i430/jeph_tsi/SDC11249_zpsf640cc35.jpg http://i1093.photobucket.com/albums/i430/jeph_tsi/SDC11248_zps7cfec7dc.jpg and a few from earlier today http://i1093.photobucket.com/albums/i430/jeph_tsi/20130118_165017_zps746d2419.jpg http://i1093.photobucket.com/albums/i430/jeph_tsi/20130118_165031_zps0ca49918.jpg

I think I may have it then... unfortunately it is a shell right now, I bought it with a rod knock, also it is spray painted green, and the shp's are spray painted blue, lol! Luckily it is a very rust free shell, I can try to find some pics, or just go snap a few if I get a chance. if you can find the vin that would confirm it, but your description of it seems very close to what I have.

was it originally an automatic, converted to a 5 speed? You are giving a good description of a shell I have!