I'm not in the market, but I've been curious about conversions.

I've seen thedrivenman's conversions, and they look stellar. However, I am kind of confused as to why a special transmission must be used.

Couldn't a transmission from an older GM be swapped in?

Going new, wouldn't TR-3550 TKO TREMEC 5 speed work?

 

Please read Mish-Mish's post about doing this 5 spd swap, He bought the Drivenmans kit & wasn;t very happy with it.

 

I looked into the Drivenmans kit and was not at all impressed with their communication... gave me enough of a bad vibe to give me cold feet about the whole project.

Based on what I have read recently glad I gave it the wave off...

Cheers,

- Will

 

I know one jaguar enthusiast who has most of the parts available for the swap. So if one of you brave fellows has some time and tooling, I'd suggest that.

 

Read some of the suggestions from Kirby's book, lots of folks were using Toyota Supra transmissions mainly in AUS, Richmond 6 speeds work too GT Jag has them although expensive and I believe that Bradley Smith used on on his wicked machine. I chose the TKO because of it's performance and abuse rating as well as the gearing which I found to be awesome for the XJ-S. More importantly if you get a TKO you can opt for the 0.68 5th gear which makes the car really economical, yes, a V12 that gets 30mpg in 5th with a 3.54 rear end. When I had the 2.88 rear, my highway mileage was 36mpg!!!!

You can also opt for an enhanced automatic, a 460LE from a later car, a 700R4 will provide OD gears and can be modded for performace very easily. The most difficult thing is mating the transmission to the engine. Chad Bolles used to provide adaptors from the V12 to a GM case bolt pattern that helps fitting the GM Autos or even manuals for that matter. With the TKO and Richmond as well as Supra transmissions you will need to source a bellhousing...not easy, I had to make my own after several casting and milling attempts before it came out right.

 

One of these days ill get around to making a full posting about the 5 speed conversion i did. If you want to pm me your information i can walk anyone through what needs to be done to build it with a t5 with a heavy duty gearset that can be had for 1100 shipped

 

I sent you one PM already Calvin that you haven't answered! Lol!

 

Damn, gotta get on that. I will later today

 

I already have a T5 which I'm thinking of rebuilding myself. The rebuild kits aren't very expensive, but I wonder if there is a kit to strengthen it?
I'm also very disappointed in Driven Mans reputation. I'm considering getting a bell from 5 speed conversions. They look like they're cast aluminum and I hope there is less issues with alignment.

 

The Driven Man kit might not be that bad, if it was supported well. Their attitude is what made whole experience a bit sour and like this:

Phase 1, before you got your kit shipped -

....So you gave us your money, so what, it's not like we owe you something for it fast, 10 weeks are new 4-5 weeks.

Phase 2, after you get your kit and it is missing things -

....So you got you crap and some of it is missing, stop calling us, after 3 calls in 1 week, we will be hanging up on you. Yes, some of it does not fit, we can size it for you, but it will be extra and it will be 2 weeks before we can get to it. Oh, we forgot to put in instructions and these are not available for open download, just e-mail us and boss will reply in a week or so, after he is back from somewhere more important than YOU. Oh, you cannot keep your car on a lift for a month, well it rolls, so roll it off and get back to it when we send you some of the missing stuff.

In case you were wondering, I was being sarcastic, however this should give you an idea that monopolies, even in such small market niches, are bad.

 

Did you make sure to ask for the same guy every time you called? I had to be a major PITA to get just the flywheel and bellhousing

 

There is one guy, the shipping guy. It is not like they are some major company with more then 3 people.

 

I am so so glad I did not go with Driven Man for anything - they sound like they should be "Driven" out of business by lack of customers due to their (posted on this forum) poor customer service.

A.

 

A Borg Warner t5 can be used?

 

Yessir the t5 in my car works great

 

Very interesting. How much custom work was needed?

 

if you get the right bellhousing, the only custom work is in the crossmember and the clutch pedal

 

I would not call those "the only", these two are fairly big deal, my talented friend!

P.S. Look what I can do!

 

What do I need to do to find out which bellhousing I need, and where can I source that?

Looks great mish!

 

Google jaguar v12 bellhousing and it comes up. It fits both bw and th400 block patterns they also sell a flywheel I believe