On one of the flatmotors I picked up (the 8BA) I planned on ditching the tranny. It appears to be out of a truck. What about the bellhousing, keep it or ditch it too?
Keep it. It is the link needed between the later trans and any earlier transmission. Besides, if you want to adapt a C-4 or T-5, you'll need it.
Thanks, that's what I needed to know. I wasn't sure what eles would bolt to it. Sounds like it's pretty "universal".
Which bellhousing do you have? All of them are good, but some are really good! Do you have the full cast bellhousing? It's the least useful. If so, make an adapter plate with dual bolt patterns to adapt later transmissions. Do you have the two piece bellhousing used in the heavier trucks? It's got the adapter ring that bolts to the block (sometimes cast, sometimes stamped) and the rest of the bellhousing is cast. The "rest" part is modified to fit whatever tranny you want to run. You can mate up Ford T-10, Ford toploaders, Ford T5, most Mopar 4 speeds, and??? Unfortunately it's not wide enough to mate up to the GM 4 speeds and the GM T5. You'll need an adapter plate to use a GM tranny. The best is the stamped steel bellhousing. It has a wide area where the tranny mates up with it. It's also the easiest to modify and in theory, the safest when a flywheel or pressure plate lets loose.
Donzie, DO keep the "ring" between the block and the transmission. AND keep the starter mount plate on the bottom of the ring. If you go with a C4, you will need that part.
Yep, you've got the heavy truck setup. I'd keep all the bellhousing parts. The ring part is used along with a lot of the flathead adapter bellhousings. The other part is useful if you are gonna make your own adapter.
As mentioned already, the bellhousing "ring" & starter plate are always handy. The little "mini" bellhousing on the front of the trans can be used to fab up adapters with. In fact, I just picked one up & plan to use it for my trans adapting efforts in the near future!
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