I have seen a Daimler 2.5 v8 advertised with a Getrag auto box conversion but I cannot find any Getrag auto box info for the V8. Does it actually exist?

 

Getrag ~ now MAGNA to my knowledge does not make traditional Auto transmissions. They make Manual, Automated Manual & Duel Clutch transmissions (DCT's). Some DCT's have an automatic change mode. e.g. the Porsche PDK.

 

contact Greg Whitehouse Autos in UK.

they do Getrag conversions for all classic british cars.

:: G. Whitehouse Autos Ltd ::

 

Thanks and you are both correct. GW Autos did this conversion for this car 20 years ago apparently! The gearbox is a 4 speed ZF unit (XJ40???). Not sure if they ever did more yet but the cost to have it done is pretty eyewatering and I am not sure what it would do for the driving experience. If I was in the UK I could go and test drive this one.

 

yes, very expensive. But the people who go to GWAutos are Aston Martin, Rolls Royce, Jaguar, and other european car owners for whom cost is no object. They want modern driveability like a 4th gear at highway speeds and other benefits.

In the US there is John's Cars in Dallas who sells the GM transmission conversion kit and also Sun Coast who also does automatic transmission conversions. In Tennessee there is a business who does manual 5 and 6 speed transmission conversions for all Jaguar cars with their own manufactured bell housings to mate with XK engines.

None of those are cheap either.

 

That makes sense. ZF has built Manuals, true Auto boxes & Steerings forever. Not so Getrag.

ZF Auto's are excellent as long as correctly torque matched to the engine.

 

I am building from a California bodyshell so no rust. I have the option of using a PowerLok diff (it was a 3.8 Jaguar auto) and then bolting on the ZF conversion to the V8 Daimler engine. I want a driving car not a show car but I live in a rural area so not much high speed motorway driving. Will this give me a better experience/performance. I know I will have to mess with speedo etc. as ratios will be different to standard. Should I spend the money as I am starting from scratch anyway. Existing Auto box will need rebuilding as its original 1964 and I used to bump start it a lot in the day so that will cost but nowhere near the conversion option.

 

The ZF will give you a better driving experience than the old variety of Borg Warners fitted by Jaguar. You need to investigate rebuild cost. Should be a lot cheaper than a new box/conversion.

It won't be as good as modern electronically controlled transmissions but you have no engine ECU to talk to a modern TCU so a modern transmission is not an option.

The old ZF's were nice & smooth for the time & more efficient than many. The best US Auto transmission of that era was the Chrysler Torqueflite.

 

oeps, wrong place

 

Graham Whitehouse has been recommended to me by David Marks and others whose opinions I trust. His ZF 4HP conversion is expensive, but it involves replacing a large part of the integral bell housing. It's more complicated than an adaper plate. I looked at it when the GM400 in my Daimler stopped changing gear. Fortunately, a replacement modulator, supplied by Graham, resolved the problem. Certainly, John's cars GM conversion is much cheaper.

It's possible to buy or build a control box for an electronic transmission. However, most of the good, efficient, modern automatic boxes have an internal ecu that makes retro-fitting close to impossible. The exception is the Ford 6R80 (a modification of the excellent ZF 6HP). I don't believe that anyone produces the mechanical bits, adapter plates etc, to attach the 6R80 to the Jaguar XK or any other non-Ford engines. If they did, or you had a your own machine shop, it would be a very nice option.

 

Peter.
there is a business in Tennessee USA that manufacture their own bellhousings to adapt manual Ford and other transmissions to Jaguars. They have a website. Quite extensive info in it.
Search google for "jaguar transmission Tennessee". Whether they do ZF I don't know.
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Jose,
Thank you for the suggestion. I made a search but can't find anything for our engines and any automatic transmissions beyond the GM and ZF 4 speeds. Personally, if I were expending the significant effort and cost of a conversion, I'd want something a lot better than the original and close to the best around. Otherwise, I prefer to make the original work as well as I can.
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I think you mean The Driven Man. As far as I can tell they only do manual transmissions, not automatic. Reviews are mixed too, some are not very positive. Seems they only make the parts when they get enough orders to do a batch, so some delivery times have been over a year I have heard.

 

What might be possible is to draw the adapter plate in a CAD program, and then you can laser print in 3D in various metals, and the resulting part is as strong as cast or machined metal parts manufactured traditionally. Obviously it takes skill to make the original 3D model in CAD and probably not cheap to print it, but it is possible.

For the amounts that most of us drive the older cars, an older technology 4 speed automatic is probably good enough and a big step from any original 3 speed automatic the cars would have been originally equipped with.

 

I can confirm that The Driven Man is not easy to work with. It took over a year for them to deliver the "Mk2 Kit" to me. The bell housing is very nicely made and they supplied quality components but they did not include the rear mount. I called and questioned why they had forgotten to send it and they said that they don't have one for the Mk2. I pointed out that their ad says that the Mk2 kit includes the rear mount. Their response.... Ohhh..... that must have been a mistake. I got so tired of emailing and calling that I gave up. It would cost more to ship it all back than to source something from someone else. The "kit" was also considerably less than other kits using a new Tremec T5 with a overdrive matched to my diff ratio. With a 3.54 rear, the OD is 0.63.
The Driven Man is a part of American Powertrain.

 

I also have a T5, but I bought mine from Ford from the Ford Racing catalogue. It also had a 0.63 OD, and my S Type has the 3.77 rear axle. I found the OD too tall and the car lugged at highway speed and I was constantly shifting from OD to fourth. I regeared mine to have a 0.73 OD and that's a better gear ratio I think, at least for speeds under 120 km/h.

The 0.73 OD makes for an overall gear ratio of 2.75, which is almost the same as the later XJ6 with a 3 speed and 2.88 rear axle.

 

Hmmmm...... now you have me wondering. Thanks for the input, Jagboi64. If a 3.77 was too tall, a 3.54 is going to be a little worse. Not encouraging.
I know I am getting off the original subject, but what did you use for a rear mount?

 

I went back and looked at the paperwork. The overdrive ratio is 0.73, not 0.63. That seems more realistic.

 

I custom made a rear mount. My car was originally automatic, I was able to reuse the lower mount and a spring from an XJ6 mount, plus some custom fabricated pieces.

 

I've also looked at upgrades for the Moss box on my Mk2. My inclination would be either the Toyota Supra or Nissan Fairlady gearboxes, as they are strong and have nice change actions. They feel a bit smoother than the Tremec or Getrag options (that's from limited experience) and are stronger than the Rover/Land Rover 5-speeds. Also, adapter plates and mountings are fairly easily available, especially for the Toyota. First though, I'm going to try to 'improve' the Moss box. My main problem with it was hitting a 'notch' when crossing neutral on the way from second to third gear. Looking at the selector mechanism, I think that I've found the cause and that it can be corrected with some serious grinding.