V8-250 Saloon: G. Whithouse Autos Ltd - Experience of ??

[classiclife]

Hello,

The following is submitted on behalf of a club member with a V8-250 saloon.

I am making enquiries, to ascertain if any DLOC / Forum member has used the services of G Whitehouse Autos Ltd; whereby their V8 saloon has been converted to a 4x speed auto using the ZF HP22 / Jaguar XJ40 auto box.

With a price tag of approx. £10K the club member is keen to determine if the cost reflects the end product.

I appreciate there are other options, but the focus is on this conversion at the moment.

Any views / comments / experience will be gratefully received.

Thank you in advance.

Regards.

Richard.

[Marcel Renshaw]

By all reports that I have had they are very good and respected engineers.
Personally I wouldn’t go with the ZF box and end up with a floor shift.
It’s possible to fit a 4 speed Volvo box with lock up and retain the original position.

[soaringace]

My V8 saloon has had the ZF box conversion which I am very pleased with, and it was able to maintain the original column change so it looks no different inside.

The conversion was planned by the previous owner and he had acquired his own ZF box, which did not turn out to be suitable. My work was done by Robert Grinter but in place of the unsuitable box, Robert used G Whitehouse to supply a refurbed one and all of the conversion parts. Although I didn’t deal with them personally, my understanding was that they were very helpful with the conversion and as they only supplied the parts, the cost was considerably less.

Alan

[simonp]

They also do ?ZF conversions for the Majestic Major which transforms the car in a similar way to the V8.

Never heard any negative comments and specialists like them are hard to find. They also work on preselects.

SimonP

[Superfly]

.
The ZF is a big box and not a straight forward fit, I may be wrong but I think it requires requires quite a bit of modification to the transmission tunnel to get it to fit properly,so it's not completely reversible if needs be.
£10k probably reflects the amount of work involved in doing this by a reputable company,so it is what it is,but it can be done considerably cheaper if you're handy with the spanners.
Will it add significant value to the car?, possibly not and the ZF may even be an issue for the purist,but
4 speeds + lockup will transform the car whatever automatic transmission type is used.

[classiclife]

Hello,

I am grateful for the responses to date, thank you.

Stu - I cannot recall which model of Volvo you used to obtain the auto box.................. was it a T5 ??

Regards.

Richard.

[Superfly]

Richard
I used the Aw71L fitted to a variety of Volvo's through the 1980's to early 90's ,later the better as later ones have subtle improvements.
A very simple overview as follows
No electronics
Dimensions are almost the same as a BW35,so no tunnel issues.
Propshaft bolts up unmodified as Volvo yolk has same bolt pattern as Daimler.
Torque converter bolt's up to original Daimler flexplate after drilling holes to accommodate Volvo's hole spacings
Volvo Torque converter spigot is an exact fit for the end of the Daimler crankshaft.
The Volvo bellhousing unbolts from the transmission and is modified along with an adaptor plate to accept the Daimler's bellhousing
Fabricate rear mount using original Daimler mount and Volvo transmission mount.

[lomh 13]

Hello all,
I have fited a ZF in my V8 250 by myself. It is not difficult and the car is perfect now.
It is possible to do the job without modification of the transmission tunnel. It is not the case on my car, wich was the first done, but a second one has been converted like that with no modification.
For the price, it cost me less than 900 €, including the ZF.

[daimlerfan]

Had my V8 250 Borg Warner 35 box overhauled by Whitehouse in August 2011 and have had no problems from it to this day.
Still using car and the box changes gear faultlessly although careful adjustment of the Kick-down cable is needed to keep this so.
Not particulary cheap but very comprehensive overhaul for the money.
Cant comment on the other services they offer but if you have an original BW35 they're the company.

[New Dexter]

Would the ZF 4HP22 automatic gearbox be a suitable item for use in a V8250/2 1/2 V8? It was from a Volvo V6 engine.