The Rebirth

[BigMike]

Check out all them shift forks!!!

The fork closest the camera is 5th & 6th, and the fork furthest the camera is reverse.

Also replaced all seals with new Toyota parts

Meanwhile, I took care of the clutch.

Here is my new Made In USA 6-pluck ceramic disc compared to the old Exedy disc.

The pads are the same size, I just have 6 of em now. So it should last a bit longer, which is a plus.

Here are the covers. The new cover is a HD version, I believe 1,600 ft-pound load. Not sure what the old Exedy was rated at.

Pressing the pins out of my TODA Chromoly flywheel.

Getting the flywheel resurfaced. We went with a 23-thousandths grind this time. We usually do a .026" step to get some life out of the clutch, but I was concerned with performance under speed shifts so I elected a more conservative grind. At least this leaves room for adjustment in the future, pending future disc wear.

And finally, pressing the pins back in! Nice and shiny surface

[BigMike]

One thing I've learned from my father and my Uncle Paul is to date things. Some people think it's silly but in times like these IT IS SO COOL MAN!!!

Here are previous recordings on the flywheel

This April 23, 2000 date was when I first installed the Exedy 4-pluck clutch. Had 207,446 on the odometer.

Fast forward to April 17, 2004 and this is when I was installing my 20-valve side draft codename "White" engine. I kept the same Exedy clutch in because it still had some life left.

Fast forward again to the present, December 19, 2010. I've got 247,048 miles on the clock. So I was able to squeeze 40,000 MILES OUT OF THE 4-PLUCK EXEDY CLUTCH!!!!! That BLEW MY MIND, I figured it had 15k or 20k tops

The new USA clutch installed to the my new 4A-GZE 

And finally, a Special Tribute to absolutely the best clutch I have ever owned: the 4-pluck Exedy clutch.

[BigMike]

Dec 20, 2010 - Had to reinstall the old C56 5spd...

So amongst all this work, I finally got the 6 speed together but still needed to complete the shifter setup. I had the rail done but ran into snags with how the new reverse position will fan out.

So I got the whole trans done and then realized my stock N/A MK1 axles don't fit. I don't know why I was so surprised by this -- I had read that I needed to get N/A MK2 axles but for some reason I tore my whole car apart and HAD to get the job finished during that weekend.

So I thought........ Hmmmmmmm I HAVE to have the car out of the shop come normal business hours Mon morning. So let's see if I can run the C5x diff components so I can run the MK1 N/A axles.

So apart comes the C60/56...

Here are the two diff assemblies, C60 on the left and the C56 on the right. It may be difficult to tell from the photos, but the C60 completely dwarfs the C56 setup. I was hoping I could simply transfer the C60 ring gear to the C56 carrier, so I could use the C56 output and use my MK1 axles. Well, that was a no go.

So here is my current C56 that I had JUST removed less than 24 hours ago...

...and now it's back in my car. So I got the car back together with the new clutch but with the same 5spd trans. I had no choice, I had to get the car out of the shop.

[BigMike]

Christmas & New Years was right around the corner so I didn't return to this project for a few weeks. During that time I was able to find some N/A MK2 axles locally. Here they are, 1 long side and 1 short side. ummm, errr well that is what they "said" they were I ended up with two short side axles, but they were a bit different: One was about an inch longer, and the other had a smaller nut thread. The splines were the same, but I still had to source a proper long side axle.

So on with finishing up the trans!

Jan 16, 2011 - Finishing up the 6 speed

I was looking over the trans and realized that I had a shift rail in wrong and the trans would get locked into two gears at once. Ho Hum. Yeah.... It's been that kind of a job. So back apart it comes....

...I lost count on how many times I had to break the silicone seal and rip into the trans. It was really bad. And each time I had to remove that cracked 5th-6th gear hub, which was really troublesome because come to find out the dealer has a national backorder on that ~$100 hub. So if I jacked that hub then I'd really be SOL for a while....

Here is a good closeup shot of the C60 diff

Then, lastly, I put everything back together with cleaned sealing surfaces and fresh silicone and what did I find sitting on the bench.......................


.....................the dang stock internal magnet. SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESH. So I had to tear it apart YET AGAIN 

[BigMike]

So now that I _finally_ have the trans back together for the last time  it was time to complete the shifter setup.
 
 I spent a long time playing with different parts between the two trans before figuring out the right combo.
 
 It turned out that the nice groove my father cut was unneeded and was interfering with the 5spd components. So I angled the grove out a bit and then filled it with weld, then turned it down smooth in the lathe.
 
 I then learned that the external MR2 shift lever was too long and wouldn't allow enough movement to engage the new reverse position. So I had to cut the section off that holds the boot to the lever. So now the boot is just sitting there and water can get it. Oh well, not much I can do about it now.
 
Finally, I had to retain the 6 speed shifter housing due a required double-spring mechanism that adds an extra level of safety against 1st-to-reverse gear misshift.

Here is a 28mm freeze plug used to plug up the hole originally used for FWD shifting operation.

Finally, here is the C56/C60 hybrid 100% FINISHED AND READY FOR INSTALL!!!!!!! WHEW!!
 

[BigMike]

Check this out!!!!!!!!!!!

[BigMike]

It took me about a week to get the proper long side non-Turbo MK2 axle, and by Jan 30th everything was ready to go!!

Jan 30, 2011 - 6 speed Installed

Here is the C56/60 with all my original MR2 components attached.

Here is my short throw mod I did many, many moons ago.

And there she is!!! Installed _finally_ The only clues that it's not the C56 is the different tail housing and the shifter end cap. Everything else is pure 5-speed as far as anyone is concerned.

Here are some comparisons pics of my 1987 non-Supercharged MK1 axles to the 1991 non-Turbo MK2 axles I sourced.
The C60 uses a coarser spline axles compared to the C50/52/56. Sorry I don't remember what the spline counts were.
On the spindle side, the splines are identical! I was able to keep my non-S/C spindles

Here is the long side axle installed (behind the O2 sensor). As you can see, the MK1 6-stud flange stub axle is a thing of the past. The N/A MK2 axles are a 1-piece design.

Here is the long side axle installed into the spindle. To remove the axles I pulled the two lower control arm bolts off and rotated the spindle away and to the side. Removing the 1-piece axles is a bit more work but nothing to write home about.

[BigMike]

I ran into issues with this plug. I'm not sure what it is for. I know that it limits the shift rod's movement, but I didn't spend anytime figuring out why that was needed. The bolt on 6speed is a different diameter, so I couldn't use it; The bolt on the 5speed is waaay too long so I had to modify it. In the end I just cut the crap out of the bolt, completely nullifying it's purpose. All it's doing right now is just preventing oil from leaking.

And finally, here is a 5th to 6th gear RPM comparison at 70 MPH. Keep in mind that my tach reads 10% too high. At 70 MPH it looks to be about a 200-300 RPM difference. It's a ratio, so the faster you go the more pronounced the difference becomes. At 80 MPH it's closer to a 400 RPM difference. For now I only have a 70 MPH picture in 6th gear.

C56 5th gear at 70 MPH ~ 3,690 RPM (10% corrected)
C60 6th gear at 70 MPH ~ 3,510 RPM (10% corrected)
Difference ~ 180 RPM (about 4-5% lower)

You might be thinking this isn't much but I am amazed at how much of a difference it has made! The car is MUCH quieter on the freeway and it is making 2 to 3 more miles per gallon on the open road. In my opinion that is significant! Additionally, my engine life will be prolonged do to lower revs and less wear & tear. I HIGHLY recommend ALL MK1s to IMMEDIATELY swap in a 6th speed. Gears 1-5 are close to each other, 3rd & 4th being gears being the closest. It is LOADs of fun to drive with the Supercharger wide power band. :shifting: :shifting: :shifting:

I'll post up some more speed comparisons once I get my speedometer fixed (the cable bit the dust 2 weeks ago).


IMPORTANT UPDATE ON THE 70 MPH SPEED COMPARISON!
I forgot that the speedometer sending unit and its mating ring gear at the transaxle output on the C60 is DIFFERENT than the C56. The Corolla has larger stock tires than the MR2. So it is possible that the C56 was reading too low and the C60 is reading to high. Please see reply #225 for more discussion on this.

[BigMike]

When I pulled the car out of the shop for the first time with the 6 speed, I cycled through all 7 gears and realized I had no reverse. I knew this wasn't the trans fault because reverse engages just fine on the bench. Well, it was very late and I still needed to clean everything up, get home, get some sleep, etc, so I just went home with no reverse.

Jan 31, 2011 - Fixed Reverse Issue

It only took a few seconds to figure out what was going on. Because reverse gear is in a position foreign to the car, the shift cables were not able to reach it. They would sort-of engage it, but as soon as I'd let the clutch out it would pop into neutral. So I had to make the side-to-side shift pattern shorter in order to reach the new (far left) reverse position.

Here is the side-to-side MR2 lever ready to be modified. A rough estimate with a dial caliper looks like stock is 2.5" long. I took a wild guess, removed 1/2" of material, and welded it back up. It turned out great...

[BigMike]

It turned out great...

...it turned out great until I got in the car and tried to engage reverse. SAME PROBLEM! It was only a bit better but would still pop into neutral

So I was looking it over, and as far as I could tell the 1/2" was sufficient, but the cable just wasn't able to extend far enough. So I decided to move the cable stud closer to the cable mount. So I cut and angled it a bit. It's probably under 2" now but not by much.

...and that was the final touch! Reverse works perfect every time now!

So there you have it. My 6 speed conversion, from purchase of used trans to completion, took 93 days Now you know why I haven't updated this thread in a while!

I still need to make some 6spd videos, I'll post em up once I do

[BigMike]

Feb 17, 2011 - Synthetic Amsoil & Fixed Oil Leak

I ran the trans on some cheap mineral oil so I can flush out any debris before switching over to full synthetic. I dropped my balls and dished out some $bucks$ for some high quality oil. No more royal purple for me, it's time to really start taking care of my car!

This is my preferred method of filling up a MR2 transaxle. I simply remove the fill and shift limit plugs, and start adding oil through the shifter housing until it starts puking out the fill. Much easier than messing around with the hard to access fill plug.

After a few days I noticed I had an oil leak. This is not a fault of the conversion, but rather the modification to the C56 FWD housing to accept a mid-ship mounted shifter setup. Bill and I both knew of the issue but I figured I could use the housing anyway. Since then, Bill has gotten his tool fixed. It wasn't that big of a deal, I just had to repack it with some better sealant (used Toyota Ultra Black Silicone) and the leak has since stopped

[Sirdeuce]

He said I got my TOOL fixed! Haahahhahahhaa

[BigMike]

March 27, 2011 - Installed Car Alarm

I got a sa-weeet car alarm that has a built in 4,000 foot pager: If my alarm goes off, then the remote will blink and start beeping.

I've also wired it up so that if anyone disconnects the alarm while it is armed it will disable the vehicle. So the only way to get the car to run is by disarming the system or take the time to trace all the wires to reverse engineer what I did. You'd be better off just towing the car away so I feel pretty good about it

The last picture shows how clean of a job I did. It's neatly wired and turned out great

So I've now got the following list of anti-theft:

• The Club
• Car Alarm that disables the vehicle if removed
• Kill switch hidden in the cab
• Kill switch hidden outside the cab

[BigMike]

Cool pics with my truck


and another after a fresh wash Long live the 80s!!!

[BigMike]

May 12, 2011 - Annihilated Sway Bar Mount

With all the extreme driving I do I was able to destroy my front passenger's side sway bar mount. I blame it on two things: 1. San Jose roads SUCK ASS (the car is there nearly every weekend) and 2. I had the sway bar on the strongest setting. Not much else to discuss really, I just need to get it fixed.

The car still corners fairly well, but the front it is very loose when you load and unload it. Also driving down the highway the car drifts all over the road.