Broken/cracked bell housing

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ARIZONA DETAILER
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Re: Broken/cracked bell housing

Post by ARIZONA DETAILER »

TonyC wrote: Wed Oct 30, 2024 3:55 pm YOWTCH!! That was a hard hit!! It looks like a prior owner rolled onto a high curb hard enough to tear a chunk out of the bell-housing! I'm surprised the transmission survived! I made that mistake last year, left a pretty big dent in the forward edge of the fluid pan; but luckily, that was the only damage caused, and it did not fully penetrate into a hole.

Yes, there is supposed to be a plate at the front, held in place by two bolts, to shield the torque converter from road debris. But with that sort of damage to the bell-housing, IDK if a plate can go on even if you had it. To remedy that, you'd need an intact replacement bell-housing and remove the transmission to swap it in. On the other hand, at least you can do that; that sort of damage to a first-gen C-6 would require replacing the entire casing–essentially, the entire transmission..

---Tony
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Thanks Tony.
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Re: Broken/cracked bell housing

Post by ARIZONA DETAILER »

The hole looks bigger than it actually is..
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Re: Broken/cracked bell housing

Post by TonyC »

Gee, thanks for that! :P :lol:

I will admit that the fact that the transmission still works makes the damage look worse than it actually was, just like the collision damage Frankenstein suffered last year. That's testament to how tough these cars can be. I'm just saying that repairing that damage will be as involved as I said. But it isn't a disabling, critical need at this point, especially if the car is not the primary means of motorized conveyance.

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Re: Broken/cracked bell housing

Post by Lee »

I would first look for (or fabricate) an inspection plate. And then get a thin sheet of aluminum, and fabricate a cover for the hole. You can tap the bellhousing for some short machine screws to hold the cover in place. Run a bead of RTV along the edges, and it should be as waterproof as the original. If you’re not going for show points, this would be a good functional repair.
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Re: Broken/cracked bell housing

Post by 1Bad55Chevy »

What Lee said.

I would add to fully inspect the sides to ensure cracks haven't spread further. Also the damage is on the bottom of the bellhousing so it's not compromising the strength of the housing.

You could just cut the whole bottom section off and run a TH-400 dust cover! Lol
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Re: Broken/cracked bell housing

Post by 1Bad55Chevy »

ARIZONA DETAILER wrote: Wed Oct 30, 2024 4:43 pm
TonyC wrote: Wed Oct 30, 2024 3:55 pm YOWTCH!! That was a hard hit!! It looks like a prior owner rolled onto a high curb hard enough to tear a chunk out of the bell-housing! I'm surprised the transmission survived! I made that mistake last year, left a pretty big dent in the forward edge of the fluid pan; but luckily, that was the only damage caused, and it did not fully penetrate into a hole.

Yes, there is supposed to be a plate at the front, held in place by two bolts, to shield the torque converter from road debris. But with that sort of damage to the bell-housing, IDK if a plate can go on even if you had it. To remedy that, you'd need an intact replacement bell-housing and remove the transmission to swap it in. On the other hand, at least you can do that; that sort of damage to a first-gen C-6 would require replacing the entire casing–essentially, the entire transmission..

---Tony
I'll bet you're real popular at parties.
If you don't have anything nice to say... :lol:

Thanks Tony.
Don't mind Tony.. he is an Army guy like me... we have no feelings, filter, tact, or brains...
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Re: Broken/cracked bell housing

Post by ARIZONA DETAILER »

Lee wrote: Wed Oct 30, 2024 5:46 pm I would first look for (or fabricate) an inspection plate. And then get a thin sheet of aluminum, and fabricate a cover for the hole. You can tap the bellhousing for some short machine screws to hold the cover in place. Run a bead of RTV along the edges, and it should be as waterproof as the original. If you’re not going for show points, this would be a good functional repair.
I'm thinking rivets.
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Re: Broken/cracked bell housing

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TonyC wrote: Wed Oct 30, 2024 5:31 pm Gee, thanks for that! :P :lol:

I will admit that the fact that the transmission still works makes the damage look worse than it actually was, just like the collision damage Frankenstein suffered last year. That's testament to how tough these cars can be. I'm just saying that repairing that damage will be as involved as I said. But it isn't a disabling, critical need at this point, especially if the car is not the primary means of motorized conveyance.

---Tony
I understood what you said and appreciate every word.
It's def not a DD. As far as we can tell, the trans isn't suffering from any ill affects as it's strong and shifts smoothly both up and down. There's no puddles under the car so I believe patching the hike with a piece of aluminum and sourcing a cover plate or making one will suffice.

Thanks, as always, Tony!
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Re: Broken/cracked bell housing

Post by ARIZONA DETAILER »

The part that stinks is we have no clue when or how it happened.
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Re: Broken/cracked bell housing

Post by frasern »

Here is the inspection cover from my '62, and the electrical box cover that was added.
SUNP0144.JPG
As stated, watch for any spreading of those cracks, you could drill a small hole at the ends of the cracks to reduce the spreading. I would keep a lookout for a replacement bell housing to keep on standby. If you find a '61, be aware that a small drainage hole needs to be drilled for use on a '62 or newer car, it is shown in the '62 supplement
On my car, there is no damage to anything else underneath, the oil pan and steering parts are lower than that bell housing, and that plate is undamaged except for the welding.
The flywheel was bolted to the torque converter with nuts and bolts, so the broken hole allowed someone to hold the bolt, while undoing the nut, I don't know if that was the factory setup, but it looks to be the same on my '63.
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Re: Broken/cracked bell housing

Post by papawayne »

I don't like rivets, but I've used hundreds of them keeping my rusted cars on the road. I use stove pipe. It is already bent to match the contours of most cars, is lightweight, drills easily and is already painted, and pretty darn cheap. What's better than that, other than real body work? Wayne
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Re: Broken/cracked bell housing

Post by 1Bad55Chevy »

Mike wrote: Wed Oct 30, 2024 10:44 am I've never had a problem wirh the dowels rusting on other vehicles, they're usually covered when the transmission is in place.
I've also never had a problem with the bell housing open. I've done swaps before where I didn't have a shield that fits the new transmission or its some stupid design that's a pain to install and purposely left it off. So it wouldn't bother me to leave the hole. If the clearance is tight at the torque converter it might be safer to not try to screw anything there.
I have never had that issue before either but a few weeks back a buddy of mine was struggling with a 07ish F150 that came from a rust state. He pulled the trans out and an alignment dowel came with it. He ended up busting the bell-housing trying to knock it out with his air hammer. Luckily he didn't need the core! I just assumed that was common on those rusty vehicles.

I am from Texas so count me out if we are working on rusty stuff. If I have to take the vehicle apart with a nut splitter or these air hammer sockets i am not working on it!

https://www.matcotools.com/catalog/prod ... wLJkbFu-tw

The Matco guy was trying to sell me that kit last week... I didn't buy it!
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Re: Broken/cracked bell housing

Post by ARIZONA DETAILER »

1Bad55Chevy wrote: Wed Oct 30, 2024 7:58 pm
Mike wrote: Wed Oct 30, 2024 10:44 am I've never had a problem wirh the dowels rusting on other vehicles, they're usually covered when the transmission is in place.
I've also never had a problem with the bell housing open. I've done swaps before where I didn't have a shield that fits the new transmission or its some stupid design that's a pain to install and purposely left it off. So it wouldn't bother me to leave the hole. If the clearance is tight at the torque converter it might be safer to not try to screw anything there.
I have never had that issue before either but a few weeks back a buddy of mine was struggling with a 07ish F150 that came from a rust state. He pulled the trans out and an alignment dowel came with it. He ended up busting the bell-housing trying to knock it out with his air hammer. Luckily he didn't need the core! I just assumed that was common on those rusty vehicles.

I am from Texas so count me out if we are working on rusty stuff. If I have to take the vehicle apart with a nut splitter or these air hammer sockets i am not working on it!

https://www.matcotools.com/catalog/prod ... wLJkbFu-tw

The Matco guy was trying to sell me that kit last week... I didn't buy it!
Ditto!
I don't have one yet but my friends do and I am amazed at the abilities of cordless impact guns!
I had to replace the lower control arms and struts on my 2008 Santa Fe last week and I borrowed an impact gun from a buddy and it got after the 15 yr old suspension bolts like it was nothing. And those bolts were installed at the factory so they were tight. To be fair, the car has never been out of Arizona so there was no rust to contend with so no risk of snapping a bolt
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