The 'E' Type Forum

i have a great 265 out of my old bmw, and while the etype is coming apart for paint its a great time to swap it in. but information on this is few and far between form my noob perspective..

i have every bmw part available to me, trans/clutch/bellhousing/driveshaft/shift linkage/slave but im unsure how much of it i can use. ill have to have it shipped and i want to save on weight. the current owner of my old car is dropping a LSX into the car and has no use for the bmw driveline, so hes shipping it back to me for this swap.

are there any suppliers that have parts available? id really be looking for a correct fitting bellousing for my dads 71 etype USA spec 6 banger. the less custom work involved would be preferable to keep replacement to parts easy. if this is going to result in custom slave/clutch an a bellhousing adapter and custom shifter and driveline work it might be a slower swap then i had hoped.

Hi,

Before anyone can help much, we need details of the car you are converting - a 1971 could be a Series 2 4.2 or alternatively a Series 3 V12 5.3. Also, do you have a long or short tail Getrag box?

There are conversions out there; most include the gearbox and you will find it hard to convince a trader to sell you just some of the parts.

I have done this conversion, without buying any parts from specialists, but I was lucky and got a Gearbox complete with a very rare bellhousing which fitted the rear of my V12 engine and the front of my Getrag without an adaptor plate. It is the adaptor plate or this bell housing you will probably have most trouble obtaining, unless you can manufacture one yourself (or have it made up), which I doubt would be easy, although possible.

The rear mount will depend on whether you have a short or long tail on the Getrag, as will the length of the propshaft and the drive yoke it requires. My rear mount was actually one of the very last ones available from SNG Barratt and was the only item of the conversion bought from a dealer. It wouldn't be too difficult to make one of these up, although it might not be as tidy as the one I bought. The Getrag in my car has a long tailshaft, with the tail extension being some 25 - 30 cm (from memory) long, possibly longer. It had a spline output, whilst the shorter 'box has only a short extension - more a cover plate really and, in Jaguar applications at least, a standard flanged yoke similar to the original Jaguar box. I believe my getrag originated on an XJS with an AJ6 engine.

As standard, the getrag shifter exits some 10-15cm or so further back in the tunnel, this either means you will need to modify the tunnel (some feel the gear shifter is better here anyway, but it doesn't look original) or manufacture a slightly complicated and awkward looking shift mechanism which brings the shifter out in the original location; this was what I did. The pattern of the gearchange is very wide on my 'box, a BMW sourced one may be different, but getting the gearshift in exactly the right location was tricky.

Here is my gearshift:





This photo clearly shows a long tail gearbox in my Series 3 V12:



Here is a shot of the gearbox on the end of the engine during installation:


You will also need a speedo drive cable - SNG Barratt still sell these, I can't remember whether I bought a right angle adaptor from them or if it came with the 'box.

Hope this helps, please ask if you need more ideas.

Regards,

kwitcherbitchin wrote:i have a great 265 out of my old bmw, and while the etype is coming apart for paint its a great time to swap it in. but information on this is few and far between form my noob perspective..

i have every bmw part available to me, trans/clutch/bellhousing/driveshaft/shift linkage/slave but im unsure how much of it i can use.

Hi - what's your name?

The stuff in Simon's photos is unusable in your car, sorry. Simon has a long wheelbase car so his longer tail box fits. If yours is a much shorter gearbox it may go in your short wheelbase car with modification and cuttin g away various lugs. It will be tight and you will need the same gearchange linkage and to fit the box to your existing clutch and bell housing but with a friction plate to suit the Getrag splines.

This is going to be a very complex job unless you are a good engineer and fabricator. I have a Getrag in mine but it was already modified to suit . Unless you have the much shorter gearbox I wouldn't dream of starting the journey as you will drastically reduce the value of the car by having to cut the tunnel away. Even with the short Getrag you will need to relieve the cross member in the tunnel and make a custom prop shaft.

Pete

Hi again,

As Pete says, if you have a short wheelbase car (i.e. a six cylinder OTS or FHC 2 seater), then the long box won't fit and his comments are correct. However, the gear linkage for a short box will be similar (mine was influenced by photos of a modified short box), the comments about bell housing and adaptor still apply and it is only the rear mount that will be different to mine. All 2+2 and all V12 series 3 cars are long wheelbase; sorry I should have pointed this out in the original post.

Pete is right that it is a complex process without a kit and somewhat difficult even with one, but can be done if you have the right 'box (I believe most BMW 'boxes are short) and can make up the adaptor - how dedicated are you and can you fabricate your own parts?

Regards,