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Supra 5spd conversion complete

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M

MDCanaday

Jedi Knight
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I had decided to use my tr4 project car as a test bed for new products a customer might wish to have installed.So having a supra tranny handy,I ordered a kit from B.Close at Eaglegate.
The Eaglegate conversion kit was all it was advertised to be and almost too easy to install.I kept looking for problems and things they had not taken care of.
The one short coming was that the manual is in need of updating since the kit has evolved a lot over time.The whole thing could now be just a page or two.Basically if you can put in a clutch, this kit is for you.
You must first get hold of a good supra tranny(82-85).They are out there but likely will need some re-conditioning.If you have your unit ready in advance,the entire job is little more than a clutch change.
My tranny needed a a new sleeve where the shifter ball fits down into the shift rod.I should have called Bill, but went ahead and made my own.(he makes one!)This part is expensive from Toyota.Bill was great to work with.
Most hardware is included in the kit except new bell housing bolts which need to be longer than stock as the new housing is beefier than than OE(and better!!)
I can give this swap two thumbs up for anyone wanting to go this route to better highway cruising.
MD(mad dog)
 
Mad dog I'm glad the conversion worked out good for you. Being a good friend of Bills and having no vested intrest in his conversions I'm happy to see someone speak out let everybody know how well the product is. Bill is a huge asset to The Triumph community here in AZ, and can be to anyone else who gets in contact with him. The profit He makes from these conversions is so small I have no idea why he invest so much time and money into it.
 
MD,
Great! I have one of Bills earlier kits and I drive the heck out of it with no issues....
Any 5speed/OD really transforms the TR.
Bill is a gear head that likes to see guys enjoy their cars without the arm/leg financial commitment.
He stands behind his products and will do whatever it takes to get the job done properly.
Let us know how the test drive goes.
BTW if your speedo is tired getting a recalibration isn't much more than the general rebuild.
 
How about a link for his site? It sounds really good.
 
The web site is eaglegate LLC.com I need to make a road trip to AZ sounds like there are a lot of great TR guys out there!!
MD(mad dog)
 
MD,
Did you get a new solid driveshaft? I think all of the conversion kit makers recommend this.
My collared original DS worked fine from a mech standpoint but replacing it with a modern balanced unit gave great peace of mind and reduced vibration greatly.
I do believe that a great deal of TR3 vibro problems can be traced to old DS's that are out of balance and flex at the extension coupling.
 
tdskip said:
mallard said:
The profit He makes from these conversions is so small I have no idea why he invest so much time and money into it.
Click to expand...

My guess, not knowing him, is because he is a good guy!
Click to expand...

Bill is a super nice guy. He has help me many times. The world needs more Bill C.
 
I was afraid that the availability of this kit had made finding a suitable transmission almost as hard to find as TR3 overdrive transmissions. However, a quick check on

https://www.car-part.com/

turned up plenty of good candidates. If I can't locate a decent OD tranny, I'll be keeping this in my back pocket as an option. I just hope Bill keeps making the conversion kit.
 
There is a well known shop in Anaheim that has rebuild boxes with a 1 year warranty at pretty good prices. personally, I'd want to know that the gearbox being installed was in good shape give my transmission adventures.
 
I took a stab and just bought one.
You can check the tranny first by putting it thru the gears and 'feeling' for slop etc. Also, checking the plastic ball on the end of the shifter that mates to the tranny shift fork is a good indicator...if it's in decent used shape then chances are the tranny hasn't been abused (slap shifted) if it's destroyed it might be from a wanna be racer.
They were designed for a lot more HP than we are pushing.
They are robust units.
The added advantage besides the 5th gear is the quick shifting, really allows you to keep on the pipe rpm/torque wise.
 
The driveshaft issue is neatly taken care of with a slip limiting collar.The stock unit should of course be freshened up and balanced first,but this collar (that was included) keeps the drive flange adapter from comming out too far.
I know a bunch of spridget guys and they all have gone 5 speed conversions or are wishing that they had gotten one before supplies of the tranny needed to do so dried up!!Get a supra box sooner than latter if you have the least desire to drive in the future....IMHO.
MD(mad dog)
 
MDCanaday said:
I know a bunch of spridget guys and they all have gone 5 speed conversions or are wishing that they had gotten one before supplies of the tranny needed to do so dried up!!Get a supra box sooner than latter if you have the least desire to drive in the future....IMHO.
MD(mad dog)
Click to expand...

That's what I was thinking too. The Supra transmissions are still pretty reasonable. The downside is that my storage space is limited and the last thing I need is to store yet another large car part. (I'm storing my TR3A and all of the bits from a TR-3B I bought for parts 30 years ago in a one-car garage.)

No doubt many of you know exactly what I'm talking about.
 
MD,
I'll bet the collar will have no issues and every tranny conv. offers them but I didn't trust it. Bills are steel at least and the other makes are alloy I believe.
If (big if) it failed the DS would seperate from the tranny and that heavy spinning mass has been known to seriously injure drivers and would def make a mess of mechanical components.
I thought the new DS cheap insurance.
My original DS was seriously out of balance so a no brainer for me.
 
HVDA includes a stell locking collar also but now recommends a one piece propshaft.

The W58 Toyota gearbox is also popular for several vintage conversions, not just TRs. There's lots of them out there but wuth Toyota reliability and long running cars, most used boxes have 100K miles on them.
 
PeterK said:
The W58 Toyota gearbox is also popular for several vintage conversions, not just TRs. There's lots of them out there but wuth Toyota reliability and long running cars, most used boxes have 100K miles on them.
Click to expand...

Well you can always count on a good percentage of bad drivers. My son totaled my Honda Civic with only 35k miles on the clock.
 
The good side of this is that W58s with 100k miles are usually good for another 100K. Trying to find a gearbox from a 80s Supra that was totaled with 35K would be difficult to say the least.
 
PeterK said:
The good side of this is that W58s with 100k miles are usually good for another 100K. Trying to find a gearbox from a 80s Supra that was totaled with 35K would be difficult to say the least.
Click to expand...

Not if my son gets ahold of one with low mileage.
 
I just installed Bill Close's 5 speed conversion kit (www.eaglegatellc.com) and it is great modification. the bellhousing is a perfect design---straight bolt in conversion with no issues. i also got the light weight balanced drive shaft. Bill was able to provide the correct toyota transmission, so it was a complete package. Highly recommended, as others have also stated.
 
OK, I'll bite.
What's the diff between his and Hermann's
 
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