Going over the parts on my 354 Hemi and wondering what I can reuse. Was wondering if I can use this bell housing that came with the engine.The engine came out of a late 50`s Dodge big truck.Was thinking of using a late model gearbox behind it.Is it a waste of my time or is it something I could use?
I have one of these also, and posted the same question about 6 months ago. I even posted most of the measurements (length, spacing and pattern of the transmission mounting bolts), and got no useful responses. It looks like it should be able to be made to work, but it is awful heavy. I haven't thrown mine away because I think it might be useful. Good luck.
Depending on what trans you wind up using, most of the adapter plates (like the wilcap ones) will mount to the block and then the new trans and bell mount to the adapter. I'd figure out what trans you want and go from there. Call the guys at wilcap for more info...they seem to know all this type of info.
The transmission bolt pattern of your bell and my '58 bell are the same. Since I'll be using a 354 hemi for my 1958 Dodge truck the idea is to use an NV4500 instead of the NP420 or NP540o. The bolt pattern on the NV is much wider & taller than stock so I'm hoping that a conversion plate & shaft extension can be made. So far I haven't gotten any of the custom fab shops interested in making this up. Steve
I remember drilling Chevy Bell housing to fit Toyota gear boxes to them.I was thinking much the same idea.I was thinking a S10 box or maybe my top loader.The first thing I think will be a problem is the depth of the bell housing. I thinking that the later gear boxes won`t reach the crank!! I just throwing this idea out there.
you may be able to cut the back off the bell and weld a plate on with your trans bolt pattern, its hard times in the maritimes, do it the down home way..maybe you can trade a gallon swish and have it done for you?
If I read that right, trading a gallon of swish. The last time I did that was in the Philipines when I needed a serial number for my '50 Panhead engine. A Master Chief told me to take a gallon of (can't remember) to the police chiefs office in Olongapo, set it on his desk at the corner in a brown paper bag and stand back. He'll look in the bag and ask what you may need. Got a serial number no problem and even used it in the states when I brought it back in 1979. Too funny.
By the way, I really like the idea of shaving the back of the bellhousing off and replacing with what I need. Do we still have the good ole boys that are good at cast iron welding?
I cant believe what I am Reading !!! That bell is an Easy Hot Rod Application its Unreal .... I used that bell, '55 Dodge Truck, Milled the trans Face down a bit, Used a 1/2 inch plate steel & Milled it to what I needed for correct distance to the Pilot Bearing. Bolted it to the Bell & layed out the pattern for my A-833 Chrysler 4spd, Drilled & tped all 4 holes. Bottm holes are in the Plate only & top holes go into the Bell & Plate, Backed up the Bottom holes with Nuts. With the Built in T/O Bearing Bell Crank it was a BREEZE to hook up the Clutch linkage in My DeSoto Powered Model A. Super *****en Bell to use & if you have access to a Machine shop its a VERY Thrifty conversion. I also used a Stock 11" Truck Flywheel & an Off the Shelf McCloud clutch for a MoPaR 440, Used the Original '55 Dodge T/O Bearing carrier with an Off the Shelf replament Bearing ... Bearing is the same as Early Ford Flathead & Variuos others. I believe you can do this convarsion with either MoPaR A-833 or '49 up Ford 4spd with the Long input shaft.
I milled a flat area and bolted an extension on the bell like this. Redrilled the mounting holes for an A833. Had to angle the top ones down a little to stay in the meat of the housing. My bell is from a 55 or 56 Dodge Truck. Going behind a 241 Hemi. [/IMG ]
I also used one to adapt to an a833 overvdrive. much like 56c36b. i used an old style a833 clutch disk and a stock Dodge truck clutch. Works great!
Remember that the critical part is having full engagement between the splines on the input shaft and the clutch disc. as shown, there are different ways to get the trans to bolt up, and installing a pilot bearing in the center of the flywheel takes care of an 'extension' for the shaft. Get out your measuring stick... .
No Pics Man, I hardly EVER take pics of stuff like this. Its In the car now & has run with no issues since '04 when the the car was first driven out of the shop.
This is some great stuff.Don`t have a Dodge gear box but have a Ford top loader and a S10 box. Going to size up both of them to see what is involved.
I was going to use a Chevy 5-speed, I couldn't figure out how to make it work. The input shaft is too short. The mopar trans have the correct length input shaft to work. And it's pretty straight forward. Mopar ******- I used a '79 A833 aluminum case with overdrive. Flywheel, pressure plate, throw out bearing and starter from '56 flathead six. Mopar pilot bushing turned down to fit in the hemi crank. Clutch plate has to fit the ******. I have had mine mocked up but I admit it's not running yet.
Ive got the same truck bellhousing that Im going to use to put a Packard topshift trans behind my short bell 331. The the plan is to make an small adapter plate which indexes in the center hole of the bell on one side, and the O.D of the bearing support on the other to keep everything concentric. Countersunk allen bolts will hold the plate to the bell housing and the trans will bolt to the holes tapped in the plate. Pretty sure this will work, just have to space everything so the input shaft ends up in the pilot bearing...might end up making a pilot bearing adapter.
I was thinking I might have to make a longer pilot bushing if the input shaft ends up a little short of the crankshaft, but this might be better.
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