Finally got around to working on my Mark ii. I don’t think I ever updated, but the JDM RWD “Camry” I bought back in March came in at the end of May. I found out shortly after winning the auction, that the car needed a clutch. (one of the risks of buying a car unseen from across the world)
Anyway, it came in and sure enough the clutch was slipping bad enough that I didn’t really want to drive it more than just to the DMV and back. From that short drive i can tell it’s exactly what I was looking for, super low key. Probably one of the most subtle RHD cars you could drive around
Ordered the parts, but work has really got in the way of me getting anything done on it for the past month. Finally have a break this week and got to tear in today.
Sort of weird to work on something with no documentation or support. I don’t think these were ever sold to an English speaking market, so there aren’t any service manuals and the only English forum for the platform went dark a few years ago. In any case, piecing together info from the mkiii Supra (which shares the r154 transmission) and all the info from people that do 1j swaps into other things, gives me a pretty comprehensive overview of the drivetrain.
So far it’s been a joy to work on, everything is well laid out, easy to get to, and it doesn’t have a spot of rust. Fasteners are coming out cleaner than they do on my 5 year old FR-S. Anyway, today I got to the point where the pressure plate is unbolted and the trans is ready to drop. From what I can see, it appears to be a failed pressure plate. The pp bolts barely had any tension at all, coming fully loose after about a quarter turn. Clutch actually looks ok, surprising for how much slipping it was doing.
Either way, I’ll be doing at least the pp and the clutch. I’ll see how the flywheel looks when I drop the trans tomorrow. Could have is up and running as early as this weekend, but more likely a few weeks if I have to order some more parts.