R154 5 Speed "Upgrade"

The W58 5 speed previously fitted has been serving us very well with an excellent shift quality, no fuss reliability with a very nicely weighted and acting clutch.... however our greed for more power which will possibly result in power output almost doubling, has lead us to make the decision to replace the W58 before we break it with an almost indestructable R154.
Conversion kits are now available from Neil at Rush Imports for both the R154 and Tremec T56 gearboxes behind the 1UZ V8 engine for which both boxes have their pros and cons.
Having test driven Neil's silky smooth Tremec T56 backed 1UZ blown Soarer I was seriously tempted to sell all the accumulated R154 parts and switch to it but we ultimately decided to stick to our initial plan of using the Toyota sourced R154 based on previous personal experience using one in a high power JZZ30 Soarer and JZA70 Supra and knowing it will handle the expected power and then some as long as we are reasonable with it in selecting gears which can unfortunately be agricultural at times.
Cost was also a significant factor in our decision as the T56 based kit would have cost a few thousand more based on the custom adapter kit, custom flywheel and clutch combo required for fitment and not to mention the higher cost in sourcing a suitable box.

Components used in this conversion are:

OEM R154 sourced from an xA70 Supra
OEM R154 to JZ bellhousing
OEM JZZ30 R154 mount
OEM JZZ30 R154 crossmember
OEM JZZ30 auto tailshaft lenthened by 65mm
OEM JZA70 R154 shifter - modified
Rush Imports JZ to UZ adapter plate & mounting hardware
Howe 82870 concentric slave cylinder & 5 shims
Round faced throwout bearing
Earls braided slave cylinder supply/bleed lines and fittings
Custom 30mm mild steel spacer for Howe unit
Alloy Race Components billet alloy flywheel with armour plate insert - 5 kgs
Roadrunner high clamp pressure plate and cerametallic cushioned 5 puck clutch plate
Otomoto/OS Giken HT reusable flywheel bolts

Engine Mounts

I recently noticed excessive movement of the engine relative to the engine bay when lightly revved in neutral.
Forceful rocking of the egine resulted in even more movement and some worrying clunks, so the engine mounts were diagnosed as being split.
There was no fear of the actual engine dropping out of place as the mounts are held captive by some safety plates even when completely split.

I had previously used heavy duty aftermarket Japanese made Kazama engine mounts on my high powered JZZ30, so I set about and replicated the Kazama style mounts with some Nolathane bushes, some round tube, flat bar, angle bar, hight tensile bolts and Nyloc nuts.

After a bit of effort with access to the top bolts we removed the old mounts and fitted the new ones without too much fuss for a solidly mounted engine that should not have the same degradation as the silicon filled OEM mounts which are designed for NVH not for longevity.

Old split mounts

New mount vs old mount