auto transmission identification.

[cass3958]

Sorry Glyn my mistake which I have corrected. No such thing as a BW30.

[Glyn Ruck]

No problem Rob. You know vastly more than I do about the Automatics.

[RollyTG]

Thanks Rob. That is great information. When I next get the old girl up in the air I can check out those things. Could I have some kind of hybrid? it looks a bit like the torque converter is the same as standard on the 65 S-type (based on SNG Barrett parts pictures) but the actual transmission is a later model. is that even possible?

[cass3958]

I am not as technically savvy as knowing that but there are a couple of things that I can say. The bell housing has a bolt pattern that has to match the back of the engine block or you will need a converter plate. Where the bell housing connects to the gearbox there are normally four bolts in a square pattern, so could be interchangeable or new matching holes could be drilled.
The torque converter bolts to the plate which we can call the starter ring which bolts to the engine crank. Running into the torque converter from the gearbox is the layshaft which also acts as an hydraulic pipe with a seal.
To interchange a gearbox from one vehicle to another the parts inbetween need to match up. The bolts patterns, the length and diameter of the layshaft. The size of the torque converter. The size of the bell housing. The size of the starter ring so the starter motor engages.
Jaguar used obviously the same engine the XK from 1948 through to 1996. I think the bolt patterns would be the same so I would have thought any gearbox designed to fit an XK engine would go into the S Type with possibly some interference changes to the gearbox tunnel, possibly with a different length propshaft and change in the gear change mechanism as some will be designed for column change and others for gearbox tunnel top.
Anything is possible it is just the degree of difficulty involved that makes it hard.