Bellhousing question

[blueovalfanatic]

This post is due to HSSS427's for sale thread. Someone commented on a 6.75" depth bellhousing. Is this a truck bellhousing? What is the depth of the desired bellhousing?

Reason im asking is I dont have alot to do until I get my chassis, so I decided to clean up the FE bellhousing that will bolt up to a 390. I measured it, and it is the 6.75" variety. Can I use this one or what?

Any help or info would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Greg

[HSSS427]

My un-educated opinion is that the depth only really matters in regard to where your transmission is going to mount, tunnel clearance, and shifter position. I put a Lakewood on and it's 1/2" shallower than the cast iron Ford that was on there. Don't know much about the Shell Valley cars so you might want to check with someone who has one to see if your bellhouse would clear everything. Also get the dimensions on your transmission and determine where the mount would end up on the frame and where the shifter would be located.

[jschiller]

I think you will find the bellhousing issue will be determined by your clutch selection. A 11 1/2" clutch setup will require a larger bellhousing than the std 390. I think a 390GT or 428 bell is needed--it has a hump in it to allow the larger clutch to clear. A second issue is the input shaft on the transmission. If you use a small input Toploader, you may need to trim the shaft length or it will bottom in the pilot bearing

[HSSS427]

Yeah...pay attention to the input shaft length. I learned the hard way and ended up burning up the thrust bearing on my crank because the input shaft was jammed into the end of the crank. Measure it all out before hand.

[blueovalfanatic]

Thanks guys. That clears it up quite a bit. Still not positive on what I am going to do, but I guess I have time to think about it.

Greg