When the engine selfdestructed and pulling the engine became a necessity my thoughts turned to a manual 5-speed box conversion. The BW65 is sluggish and you are never at the right rpm whether you suddenly want to accellerate or cruise a relaxed pace and less than horrible mpg. The GM TH400 is not a lot better.

Browsing the net there is quite a bit of info. I do not want to spend lots on a full plug and play kit. A few questions remain unanswered.

The XJ-S 3.6 manual box is supposed to fit with a simple adapter. Correct?
The XJ40 3.6 manual box is supposed to be identical as far as bellhousing is concerned. Correct?
Is the XJ40 2.9 box the same as the 3.6, including bellhousing?
There are bespoke aftermarket flywheels that will do the job but are thare any standard flywheels that do? (E-Type flywheels are scarce AFAIK.)
Will the above boxes have the gear selector in the right position?
The output shafts of the above boxes, are they all flanged? (I.e. do the prop shaft bolt up to the box?)
Considering the adapter changing the distance, can the standard throwout bearing/arm of the above boxes be used?
Finally, the original pedal housing has a "turret" for the clutch pedal, have anybody tried to machine it to take a clutch pedal?
Do any other pedal housings fit? (Obviously the Ser II manual does but what else? Ser III? XJ40?)

Per, I believe that a lot of V12 conversions are done with the 5 speed Getrag box from the 3.6 XJ-S and that this is a good tool for the job (much preferable to going Japanese IMO!). However, you may already know that there are no spares now for these 'boxes so you need to source a really good one as they cannot be overhauled. Cheers, apax.

The Remac is a noisy box - built really as a race application.
I have a 6.2ltr XJ12 C running a Getrag 265 manual gearbox.
It is more than up to the job, but parts are near impossible to get hold of. My car was a Santa Pod regular, and has noisy bearings on the first motion shaft now.
It has a modified Auto bellhousing, but standard prop and mountings.

Hope this helps??

Cheers,
Keith

Just dived into the workshop manual, and the bellhousing is indeed separate from the transmission housing 
A bit of machining to fit a different box is very much achievable. Failing a Getrag 265, are there any popular '80'ies BMW/Merc/Audi/Volvo boxes that are strong enough and that have the shifter in the right position? (Very few Jaguars broken on these shores.)

Geoff I had a 3 speed Sturmy Archer once and just left it in 1st gear. Never really bothered about gears or seen any real practical need for them, which is probably why I like automatics as can just forget about any kind of gearing and get on with driving

Hi Per,

The bellhousing mods are straight forward enough. The prop flange is the same , so bolts straight up
I could possibly get hold of a 265 for you here, I don't know what shipping costs would be? I could have a chat with a few European customers, see when they are next over?

All the best,
Keith

Very nice - and to have a back drop like that - beautiful.

Here's my 6.2ltr manual car. Coming in over winter for a major body overhaul. Behind it is my Series 1 XJ that currently runs a 4.0ltr AJ6. The blue XJR6 behind has a tired gearbox and suspension, so may well give its supercharged AJ16 to the series 1

To be honest Per, I don't know. I bought the car in its current state. Loads of history and bills, but nothing specific to the engine build spec. BHP is said to be around 400.
I have only used her on local roads, and the power is immense!
Once the body is sorted out, she will be set up on the rolling road and we will get some accurate figures on the power being delivered.
It is all based on the H.E engine though.

Kind regards,
Keith