I'd like to learn the development history of our engines. I've heard it was a modified Ford, all JLR and even BMW. I don't think i've seen another manufacturer create a 6 from an 8 by basically just using shorter heads on an 8 block. Anyone know where I can read up on this?
And I guess while i'm at it, since the blocks appear to be the same, shouldn't a 6's manual tranny bolt up to the 8? Is the bell housing bolt pattern same as ZF? I gotta believe someone has looked into this already. Forget all the silly "won't handle the power" details.

 

All JLR (actually all J), built at Ford's Bridgend engine plant in a special "Jaguar area".

 

A good place to start; there are some links the bottom of the page as well. The V6 is referenced on the page.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_AJ-V8_engine

 

Even if you could bolt a ZF 6S–45 to a V8, you’d twist it into a knot in short order. It just couldn’t handle the torque.

 

This is correct; the engines were designed/engineered by Jaguar (not Ford) and built under contract in a separate facility at Bridgend. The engines were not shared with Ford products and the Ford 5.0 engine is not the same as the Jaguar engine; the V6 is essentially the Jaguar V8 with two cylinders fewer.

 

See here for a good explanation of how the V6 was derived from the V8: https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a1...ers-redundant/

 

I figured as much. Note my last sentence in original post. But....any aftermarket options? Just thinking out load here.