J160 Gearbox and shifter installation
The J160 gearbox is all bolted up. Compared to the W58 it’s more effort to install due to the weight and the fact the bottom of the extension housing isn’t as flat, but can be installed with a trolley jack and a second set of hands. Steering rack clearance is good, no changes are needed to the existing hard lines
I had some trouble fitting it onto the engine due to the narrow taper of the gearbox making it hard to fit through the transmission tunnel. I had to unbolt the engine mounts and hook up the engine crane so I could tilt it backwards to line up the bell housing bolts.
The front of the shifter housing is fouling on the hole. This is stopping me from raising the rear of the box (the shifter needs to sit approx 40mm above the tunnel).
Using a Dremel I cut a ~15mm notch in the tunnel so that the shifter would clear. it is sitting further forward than I had anticipated, but the shifter throw is shorter than it was on the W58. If it is still hard to shift I can fit a short shifter.
I test fitted the original J160 crossmember, but none of the holes lined up with the chassis and it would have needed spacers to sit the rear of the box at the correct height. The chassis has six holes for mounting the crossmember for two different positions. by moving it back to the rear position I was able to line it up with the J160 using the old W58 mount.
Everything went together without needing to modify parts, but only the two forward holes on the mount lined up with the J160 as the extension housing is a different shape. This shouldn’t be an issue, two bolts are enough to secure it. I’m looking at modifying my spare W58 mount so that all four holes line up
The bolt on top of the rear extension is hitting the top of the trans tunnel when the shifter is in the forward position. The bolt is there to help secure the locating pin so I can’t remove it. Using the dremel I ground back a small section of the trans tunnel so the shifter has full movement.
Fitted the SA63 prop shaft, it is approx 50mm too short. This was also an issue with the W58 as this prop shaft is from an automatic gearbox, but since it was my daily with only 90hp and I never drove it hard I didnt bother modifying it. The 2S is a shorter engine compared to the R series engines other A60 Celicas, so the only prop shaft that is the correct length is from a manual SA63. I have two other prop shafts from a 21R RA60 and 22RE Ra65, they are all the same length as the auto shaft.
I have the SXE10 Altezza shaft that came with my second engine (top shaft). The rear section is too short and the front section is too long. I’m going to join the Altezza front shaft with the SA63 rear and get the front section cut and balanced at the correct length.
Comparison of the two front shafts. The lengths and OD of the stepped sections are the same for both shafts. The number and dimensions of the splines are also the same. The only difference is that the splines on the Altezza shaft are slightly shorter, but once the centre bearing is fitted the flange will be sitting a few mm further forward on the splines so it will fit without issue.
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Michael's 3SGE Celica Build 
Hey Michael, I’m a bit confused here. On the previous page when you have the W58 and J160 side by side, the J160 shifter is much further back. Here, the shifter barely clears the front of the hole! What am I missing?
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Hi Ash,
I am using a shifter relocation kit which has moved the shifter location forward approx. 150mm This is closer to the original position I had with the old W58 and MA70 extension housing.
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