I’m currently looking at an ad for the remains of series 2 XJ with a 5 speed gearbox fitted. I have asked the vendor for more details, and he advised it has the Leyland mark on the box.I assume this is then the 77mm box from the Rover cars that was fitted to early series 3 cars.I would like to fit this to my series 1, replacing the BW12. With a 3.07 rear axle it would offer cruising of 30mph per 1000rpm.Has anyone done this conversion? How will the car perform with this gearbox – is the gearing too tall?May all come to nothing as the wreck is not priced (except to say no stupid offers) and is a 200 mile drive from where I live.

 

Do you have a link to the add? Would be interesting to read.
What condition is your BW12 in?

 

https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/oran...out/1166349550

This one Clarke. I am considering going to look at this when I am up at Ilford (NSW) on September 8th.
Do you think $1500 is a mean offer? The car is a heap of junk otherwise.

 

Hi John, If it was an auto I would say $1500 is about 10 times what the car is worth.
I have been on the lookout for a manual conversion set up for a couple of years now and nothing decent has come up under $1800. The only value in the car is the box and if it is good it won't be there for long.
I am surprised it has been there since November last year. Either it is no good or everyone else has done what I have with this add and looked at the pic of the car and scrolled past it without opening the add and reading it.

And since the car has been on there 9 months I would start low, as in under $500.

 

Sure is enticing. And the seller deems to know what he has. A 5 speed box conversion kit. Most of the rest is mere detritus to be a disposal issue.

3.07 is possibly a bit tall. But, I think some manual swapped cars handle even the 2.88 OK.

Reserve 5th for high speed highway runs, O'wise top out in 4th.

Sounds like a very interesting project.

Carl

 

I called the number in the ad - Sounded like he had a few years on me (I'm 63). When asked who did the conversion, replied "who says it is a conversion?" Said that to my knowledge there were no series II 5 speeds. Then said he thinks it is a series III ! Apparently he bought it as a parts car and has sold off some parts already. When I tried to pin him down on a price for the whole car, as I would need all the way back to the tailshaft - he replied $4000 for the gearbox. Told him we were on different planets, goodbye.
My BW12 is in good condition so it will be going back in. Another option that I like is the later 4 speed auto, but I have not investigated this yet.

This car will most likely never move - he perhaps likes having junk around. In time will be sold off by his heirs for nothing.

 

He's dreaming. Prestige Jaguar had one recently for $2800 with pedal box , tail shaft and centre console. There was another in Hervey Bay for $1850 with everything needed for a conversion and it was reconditioned.
This is a good one to walk away from, they do pop up from time to time but you have to be quick. The last two I have seen have been sold within a couple of days.

 

surely a fresh getrag conversion makes more sense?

 

I'm intrigued with the idea of a five speed in a XJ6 and have been looking at various options - Getrag 265, JT5/T5, and the Toyota W58

One conversion that's caught my attention is from Xcessive in Portland Oregon. He uses a five speed from a 300ZX (I think they call this car a Fairlady Z everywhere but the US} The complete bell housing, clutch and flywheel is adapted to the Jag motor. It also uses the starter out of the Nissan.

Xcessive caters to the drift crowd, and though I'm not a big fan of the sport, their 85 XJ6 with the Nissan box is interesting. Here's a writeup on the car-

https://petrolicious.com/articles/th...to-go-sideways

Here's a link to Xcessive's website-

https://xcessivemanufacturing.com/jaguar.html

Still not sure of gearbox lever placement, driveshaft interface or speedometer (i imagine the Nissan VG box has a pulse output rather than a cable, but one of the stepper-drive cable boxes could be used to get the speedometer working) I wrote Xcessive to ask and will post results if there is any interest.

There's still a few of the 3.54 differentials around from the six cylinder XJS from the 90s. The Nissan 5 speed with the XJS 3.54 ration might make a very nice combination.

Any comments on the Xcessive approach to the XJ6 manual transmission would be interesting to hear.

Phil

 

Here's the response from Xcessive-

Hi Phil,

Thank you for your interest in our products!

We produce a Top Load shifter for the VG transmission that allows for near factory fitment if the shifter lever. Some minor trimming of the sheet metal may be required. I have attached a couple of pictures of fitment someone was able to get using our kit.

For the driveline you will need a custom unit, which we can build. Our drivelines are $385.00 plus shipping and we have made them for this application several times.

The VG transmission comes in the 1990-2000 Nissan 300zx. Both the twin turbo and non-turbo version have the transmission but they are both equally as strong. You can use either transmission however the non-turbo transmission tend to go for cheaper and are totally fine to use. For clutch parts you will need either all non-turbo or all turbo components relative to the transmission you choose. The “VG” name comes from the engine they are attached to being the VG30DE and VG30DETT.

Our current lead time for the kit is about 4 weeks out. If you are interested in a proper quote with shipping costs please send me your full address and I will send over an estimate for you to look over.

Thanks,
Guy Nelson
Xcessive Manufacturing

 

Quick check of car-parts.com shows lots of these cars in wrecking yards and transmissions going for $200-500 US

 

Phil
Thanks for the info. I too am considering converting to a 5 speed (86 XJ-6). I looked at Vintage Jag Works kit, and while it looks great, it is extremely expensive (4K??). Xcessive's kit sounds much more reasonable. My only concern is will the VG transmission hold up for 10 years of pushing 4K lbs around with my lead foot. I love the "bullet-proofness" (is that a word? ) Tremec's TKO 550, but those things cost half of what I paid for the car. I'd love to hear other folks thoughts.
Andy

 

There's about a 400 lb weight difference between a XJ6 and a 300ZX (the Jag heavier of course) The Nissan engine with turbos is about 300 hp and the Jag is about 175 hp.
On the face of it, the Nissan transmission should see pretty light duty in the Jag. Xcessive said the Nissan transmission was good to 800hp or so and used it in their Jag drift car with 500+ hp. Not sure the VG transmission's success in a drift car is indicative of its long term durability, but it is a data point

I am more concerned about the ratios of the Nissan box and the adapter Xcessive uses to mate the Nissan's flywheel to the Jag crank. I would want to be convinced of the adapter mechanical integrity and ability to hold the run out on the flywheel to acceptable levels.

To your point, though, I would be tempted to scour Craigslist for a spare transmission and keep it under the bench.

I am a big fan of the TKO too and would love to have one to replace the T5 in another of my projects, but wow, the price.

 

Hey, I just went to the link in your previous post and look at this!

https://xcessivemanufacturing.com/ja...pedal-kit.html

This kit is stupid money from the seller on ebay which I think may be the only other source. These guys have supplied it at a great price! In the back of my mind, I've always wanted a 5spd in my XJC whether behind an sbc, an LSx or a 3 carb L6. Need a pedal anyway so thanks for the link!

 

I saw this a few weeks ago - anyone fitted one of these yet? I was planning on getting one...

 

I'm also interested. I wonder what kink of money it would take for the junkyard transmission, adapter, clutch, pedal kit and shifter - basically all the parts, labor mine.
I recently bought an 85 Series III but I confess I have lost interest and a manual shift is what it would take to restore it.

 

You would need the Nissan transmission, flywheel, clutch, starter and slave. I'd look for someone parting a car out near me as the donor source. A quick look at car-part.com shows that this transmission can be had from a wrecking yard for $350-500.

From Xcessive you'd need-

Transmission and flywheel adapters - $725
Clutch pedal kit - $170
Shifter relocator kit - $150
Transmission cross member $100

A new driveshaft would have to be custom made - about $200

You'd need some way to drive the speedometer. They make a speedometer drive that takes a pulse signal from a transmission and uses it to drive a stepper motor and a speedometer cable. There might be other ways to do this too, but the converter box is around $300.

Looks to me that you'd have about $2K in a conversion plus a lot of your own labor to put it in.

 

I have a laycock denormanville 4 speed overdrive (out of a Mark II) that i'm inserting into s1 xj6 this winter, I'll probably try that xcessive pedal in an SIII master cylinder.
I also have an xjc, still doing bodywork and watching for the best donor car for powertrain to come up, which i also intend to put a stick shift in, probably Getrag. I'd factored 300 for junkyard transmission, 500 for bellhousing/adapter plate, clutch 200, pedal and clutch cylinder 250, fasteners and screw ups 400 = about 1650 usd...
I have a flywheel already and a friend who makes prop shafts.

 

I suppose if you have enough parts laying around you could do what this guy did..........

1983 XJ6 5 Speed

There's a youtube video of him driving it floating around too.