94 Celica GT ST215 Transmission Advice Options

[Kevchek]

First off, my names Kevin. I’m new to the forums over here. I’ve owned my st215 swapped gt for about 2-3 years now. It was stock when I bought it, the turbo went so I slapped a ctx15b 58mm on there and drove the piss out of it until I finally threw a rod and piston out the side of the block. It sat for about a year and a half and I’m finally buying a new motor and bringing Cali back to life. I pulled the motor and trans this past weekend and decided to see how much a rebuild would cost on the s54 transmission. The trans would grind third on downshift unless I revmatched and shifted without the clutch. I figured it would only be as simple as syncros. Well that wasn’t the case, turns out everything needs replacement. I got a quote from a very reputable shop, that I’ve used for years, with a price tag of 2100$! For a transmission that was only meant to handle 200hp. I thinks that’s insane. I was looking into an e153 lsd from an Mr2. If that’s even possible how can I achieve it. Basically I’m looking for a better alternative than the piece of garbage s54. Suggestions ?

[HardHead93]

I have a ST215 swap with a S54 transmission and it has been great. I put the MRS/Lotus LSD in the transmission and it feels great. About 2 months ago my 3rd gear started to grind. I put 2 quarts of Redline MT90 and topped it off with a synthetic 75W-90 gear oil and the problem went away (the car even shifts better). That was $35 well spent. I am now pushing 305 hp on 91 octane and 340 hp on e85. I track the car so I am really hard on the gears. The tranny and so far it is holding up. It is only a matter of time before the tranny dies, that is why I am planning to source and build a spare tranny for when it happens. When you throw big horsepower at drivetrain something is going to break. If it is not the tranny, it is the axles. All the guys who I track with say that is part of the deal of building a car. Sorry for the bad news. You could go e153 and that will fix your horsepower issue but now you are dealing with a unique mix of drivetrain parts that will be harder to replace when something breaks. It is a tough decision.