Yes, Salem Street address in Stoke. Been there twice. Was Beagle Engineering (probably still is) and the gearbox conversion team was Elite Racing Transmissions, but now ‘Historic…’.etc?
$7,560.00 for a … Now I know I’m not in Kansas anymore. Jegs sells a version of the T5 starting at $1,995.00.
The 5 speed conversion (T9 trans) for my TC was $2,850.00. Same for an MGB, MGA, and that includes a new purpose-made bell housing… Somebody is making some serious money on you guys for making a bell housing and some brackets.
Whew. I’m beginning to LOVE my transmission.
I don’t get XK’s I just got their new price book. Basically they raised everything 20 % over everyone else.
GTJOEY1314
We are fortunate to have multiple suppliers carrying essentially the full line of parts.
I was surprised to find they listed the prices in the catalogue. Given the variable nature of pricing for multitude of reasons most suppliers I’m familiar with only list prices on the web where they can be easily changed.
It s really a shame that Paul Cangialosi cant supply his fantastic JT5 anymore. I ve had mine since 1999, it was the first thing I upgraded on the car, ordered thru Classic Jaguar two days after I bought the car with the awful slush box
During the just completed restoration and full rebuild, Paul rebuilt the gearbox and updated it to the latest design which allows the clutch to be accessed without having to pull the gearbox. I know he had a delay getting parts fornthe rebuild. I haven’t driven the car much yet as I m finishing the interior but that precise shifter is a delight. 2500 rpm yields about 80/85 mph.
Cruising long distance at low RPM is so nice… one of our other fun cars is an 81’ GTV6 with a transaxle 5 speeds. It s a fantastic car and the Busso V6 is amazing. But…the gear ratios are awful. First gear is almost useless as you hit redline right away and the engine turns 4000 rpm at 80mph. Being a transaxle changing gear ratios isn’t easy as these boxes are often hard to shift and ours works perfectly
But I wish it had the JT5 ratios…
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Curious, which method is used?
tom
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Ya think? 
In all (somewhat) fairness, the low production numbers drive some of this.
That said, I think i’d just make an adaptor plate for some extant, approximately-correct bell housing, and use that. It’s what I’ll have to do, if I get a ‘round tuit’ on the Rover.
Slight dog-leg but surely the right people are here on this thread to answer: why not just change the diff?
In my car (68 S1.5, US car) first, second and third are so low and close together than I’m in 4th by 30mph. If they all simply got a little taller it would be perfect.
I’m honestly not sure what diff ratio I have, may or may not be original anyway, but at 65/70 it’s screaming at 3000 rpm. It drives me nuts and actually I first joined this forum specifically to research 5 speed transmissions – the day I bought it! – but the confusion around which one to use without cutting the car in half rather put me off the idea.
I also convinced myself that a useful side effect of the current arrangement would encourage me to drive at slower speeds and keep me less dead than at the speeds I would be at otherwise.
A developing issue I’ve been having, however, is paint bubbling and cracking on the bonnet above the exhaust manifold - I just fitted heat shield yesterday - and it occurs to me that at least part of the problem is the high revs I “have” to use. I live right by a freeway and so almost always come home with a hot engine.
So, forgive me for the obviously ignorant question, but why not fit a different diff?
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Sounds like a 3.54. I considered a 5 speed but opted for a positraction a 3.058 from Coventry West. For my purposes it transformed the car. The car is more relaxed, still very responsive to the throttle at all reasonable speeds, and the annoying drone of the exhaust at 60-70 MPH went away.
The change involved swapping out the differential, a bolt in job and sending the speedometer cable to a place in Denver that cut the cable and installed a gear reducer to make the speedometer accurate with the new gears.
Putting in a numerically lower diff isnt going to make that big of a difference.
Sounds like you have a 3:31/3:54 diff: I can never keep perfectly straight all the varying differences on diffs, but IIRC, a 6-cylinder diff will go in place of the other 6-banger diffs, plus, there is the relatively easy and affordable regearing.
As for why?
In a Moss-boxed car, like my ‘63, and with Moss replacement parts essentialy NLA, plus the fact that the Moss was not a terribly-good sports car box to begin with (it was a truck transmission, with steel synchros, and a crash 1st), I wanted the 5-speed not so much for lowering revs (my 3.07 gave ~2900 rpm/75mph)) but for the MUCH better shifting of the Tremec box.
On a later E Type, the gearboxes were MUCH better, and in that case, regearing the final drive is—all IMHO—a better deal than reboxingthem.
In my Rover, I want a tall 5th, because the stock 3.89 diff gives me ~4300 rpm/75 mph. Because of the extremely heavy Heren-chamber pistons, and the equally bulky con rods, that high rpm results in extreme bore wear.
Rob,
It sounds like you have a 3.54 diff. If you want to change the gearing I agree that a 3.07 or even 2.88 diff might the best answer for you, given that you have the all-synchro 4-speed and the higher-torque 4.2. Every time I drive my Series 2 with a 3.54 rear end after a long absence, I find myself searching for a 5th gear. But after a while, that urge goes away, and I live with 3200-4000 rpm freeway cruising. As our late friend Jerry used to say, the engine actually seems quieter (or at least makes a more pleasant noise) at those revs rather than the 2500-3000 rev range that a change in gearing would bring. If I had $5-10K to spend on the car, I can think of better places to spend it than a 5-speed. If my current gearbox was shot, I might consider it. YMMV
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Ive had each set up…In the states most if not all were 3;54
I first went 307 before the 5 speed was invented and dropped 400 rpm per gear.
But with modern driving and suv’s you feel like you need another gear .
The set up in my 66 is 288 rear with a t5. I’m at 2,300 rpms at 90!
Its a lazy driver but PERFECT for cruising the shore.
Get up and go, nothing.
On this yellow car I’m going 307 with whatever 5 speed we get to…
That’s the ticket overall.
GTJOEY1314
Hi all, I was lucky I bought a series 3 xj6 5 speed box £800 works a treat just had the propshaft cut ,if u find one make sure it’s from a jaguar .
Nick
Dinosaur feathers are easier to come by, in the States!
Yeah, that would be a killer in the states…I agree.
Well so far no one has called back…Ah AMERICA, everyone wants business but too busy doing nothing.
Oh well.
gtjoey1314
If the Driven Man is the same owners as I dealt with several years ago good luck to you.
After taking my money and promising, for a year, that the conversion was “all packaged ready to go” I never received it.
They blatantly lied to me over the phone several times with different excuses why they hadn’t shipped it. Truth was they didn’t actually have one for a V12 saloon.
A lot of phone calls and more bulls**t from them and I finally got my money back.
This spoilt the entire project I was working on.
Regards Jordy
Rob
Two easy ways to determine gear ratio:
(1) If you’re lucky, the metal tag will still be affixed to the differential on one of the diff cover bolts. The 2 numbers will ID the number of teeth on the ring gear and the pinion gear:
ratio ring pinion
3.54 46 13
3.31 43 13
3.07 43 14
(2) Failing that (with car in neutral)
a. Crawl under the car and place a chalk mark on rear u-joint indexed to another chalk on a fixed point anywhere on chassis or differential
b. Have friend mark tire (anywhere)
c. Rotate drive shaft exactly 1 rotation referencing your chalk marks
d. Meanwhile, your friend counts the number of rotations of the tire: ~3 1/2 rotations=3.54 // ~3 1/3 rotations = 3.31 and just over 3 rotations = 3.07
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A possible point of interest…my car has an EJ four speed with a 2.68 first gear and a 3.07 rear ratio. It’s not a tire burner combination if the stop light grand prix is your thing. That said, once it’s moving the big torque and ratio combination obviate any need to shift until after you’ve caught and passed the ratty old pickup that blew you away when the light changed. I mention this because in my opinion, a 2.88 with an EJ transmission would not be a good idea. Probably OK for a KE… but barely. I’d want to look closely at the first gear ratio of a 5-speed before installing a 2.88 ring and pinion, as there’s no need to sacrifice performance on either end (launch or cruise).
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I think you have to interchange the words drive shaft and tyre. The pinion is small and the crown wheel is large so several,spins of the driveshaft will give you one spin of the wheel…
Maybe Craig has a verrrrrrry tall diff… "-)
Regards,
Ray L.
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