First of all, does John's Cars still offer the kit, and if not, does anyone else?


After much weeping and gnashing of teeth over my transmission options, we've got other things going on with other cars in the family and are choosing not to do a manual conversion on this car. Rather, I'm after the following:


This transmission: http://www.johnscars.com/qb/v12qb.html


With this shifter or one very like it: https://shop.kilduffmachine.com/prod...5&categoryId=1


In the absence of being able to spend $10K+ on a manual conversion, these options represent a cost of about a third to a half of the expected manual swap. But I need to find the kit first.


Jess

 

What do you plan spending on the 700 kit and trans itself (new, rebuilt, beefed up) & will you be doing the work yourself? I figured I spent $6K on my manual conversion, doing the work myself, about 8 years ago. In terms of automatic vs manual, it's all in what YOU like & cost of course. Some like to shift gears, some don't. I drove both and IMO anything is more exciting than driving the stock GM400

 

TH 400 is a tough old tech three speed. Boring? In a sense, it just keeps going sans angst of failing!!


The 700R is a more sophisticated unit. deeper low and OD.


It has been decades since I drove a stick shift. fun to be sure, except in stop and go traffic. Left knee ached bad !!!


Carl

 

Carl I've been driving a stick for over 5 decades & the fun is still there especially with a v12 in front of it , "except in traffic" for sure. As said though if your going auto go 700R. Doing 80mph without OD sux, BYW a new knee solves all those probable's, @ least for me

 

I think it’s been years since the Johns Cars conversion made any sense. You’re trading one antique transmission for another.

 

What type of practical street automatic is out there would you suggest ? I would have to consider kit form, cost & fit, gear ratio, and OD to name a few. This is IF I was considering an alternative automatic to the TH400.

 

I'd have to pay someone to do the conversion. That means you're looking at about $6k in parts now for a complete kit (DrivenMan has gone from $5k to $6k in the last couple of years) plus a whole lot of custom fabrication, reprogramming the ECU, etc. I would expect no less than $2k in labor and probably closer to $4k or higher to do a conversion and even then I may be underestimating.



Meanwhile, converting to a T-700 is 8 hours of shop time and no custom fab.


I love shifting gears, but have a pair of sports cars that are already stick shift and dropping $10k on this car started to make less sense in light of the cost. If you YouTube those Kilduff shifters, you can see it being used as a substitute for a ratchet shifter on a dragstrip ( ) and then also in daily driving, both in upshifting and downshifting during everyday driving ( ), although there are other videos out there where the driver doesn't have to shift as hard as this guy does. Better yet, you can just put it in D and leave it there if you don't want to shift.


Jess

 

Jaguar Specialties

www.Johnscars.com

These were the only two trans kits listed in Hemmings Motor News July 2018 issue

 

l can throw another option in there. What about going with electronic auto and tci or similar controller with manual mode and paddles.
Certainly less clutter than all those shift levers.

 

When I did a John's Cars Quarter bread in a series III XJ6 a few years back, it used the stock shifter with is the same shifter in the XJS

 

I know, but I don't want the factory shifter. I specifically want to change that. Not that the shifter is terrible, but I want a more interactive driving experience.


Jess

 

I've got that on my XF and while it's OK, I'm not a big paddle fan. It's better than nothing, but it's less tactile. I guess for the same reason they still put pull-levers on slot machines, I like gearshifts.


Jess

 

The 700 may be an antique but it still lights years ahead of the 400; several advantages. I think it's still a viable alternative.


Cheers
DD