Matching Bellhousings to blocks.....

Bob Carriere · #1 05-05-04, 20:20

Need advice and/or opinions....

The machine shop working on my 261 which will be mated to the original 216 bellhousing is trying to match the bellhousing dowel pins for alignment of the bell housing to the tranny.

I gave them the service bulletin for doing such a task that I obtained from Alex.... should have seen the faces when I produced a service bulletin dated 1944..

According to spec. the centre hole on the bell housing where the tranny fits in must be NO more out of alignment than .008 and if so dowels pins must be removed to redrill and redindex..etc etc... spells money money money......

They have measured my bell housing as being .015 out of alignment.

My question to you is... how critical is it??? I have read that the tranny can be ruined..... the tranny will jump out of gear..... the pilot bearing will disintegrated.... the shaft will be howling...... and I may loose my virginity.....

Again how critical is that extra .007 ....

My feeling is that with the truck being 64 years old and well used..... previous engine was a 248 GMC which I am sure the country mechanic did not
re-index the bellhousing...... everything else is slighthly loose and oval...... suspect that there is probably enough slack between the dowels and the 4 tranny mounting bolts.... that it will not matter all that much......

...at the same time I have to manage the overall cost vs benefits of this project.

Thanks for your helpl

Tony Smith · #2 06-05-04, 06:01

... are available from many "Speed shop" suppliers. If your mechanic has already measured the out-of -alignment distance, it's just a matter of ordering the pins, no machining required.

See http://shop.store.yahoo.com/gofast/lakdowpin.html

Bob Carriere · #3 09-05-04, 04:47

Hi Tony

I am totally amazed at the help available on this forum....

.... Tony, If I wasn't so old, I would name my first born after you.

Now to laugh at my "mawsheenist"....

This is the kind of "priceless" info that must be entered in a parts list.......

Alex Blair (RIP) · #4 09-05-04, 13:14

Aw come on Bob,,74 ain't too old...Why with Viagra around now you stand another chance for a "Tony"...

MAhahahahahahahahaaaaa!!!!
.
I couldn't let this one go by......

Bob Carriere · #5 11-05-04, 02:56

Well Alex I went to Viagra Falls and it had almost no effect on me........ except when listening to the Falls at night I had to get up every hour to P**

I'll get you for this........

..on a more serious note I ordered a set of them twisted dowel pins.... should be alot easier and cheaper that punching them out...drilling... and making new pins.....

....on the bad side I painted my wheels with POR 15 and tried flasjing them with WWII OD paint before the POR was totally dry... as per the instruction shit ( not a typo) and the OD paint all cracked up..... looks like some of the artsy-fartsy stuff my wife does on purpose on her old furniture finish......

Back to the drawing board and a dab of paint remover.....now I will see if the POR 15 is so resistant to withstand the CDN tire paint remover...... and I thought a hobby was supposed to be fun...... beer is fun and it does not crackle!!!!

Alex Blair (RIP) · #6 11-05-04, 14:14

Bob
Is there a number for that crackel paint..?

You probably put acrylic or laquer over enamel ...
That will cause it to "Crackel"....
The acetone in the laquer is acting like a paint remover on the enamel...

Or at least that is what I did to make "crackel" paint...

Bob Carriere · #7 13-05-04, 02:07

I simply followed instrcution that said you can paint directly over POR 15 while it is still slightly sticky..... they call it a slight drag on the finger when rubbed.....

I oversprayed with the standard Aero OD enamel paint... and crap before I could look the other way it started to "crackel".

The proven method I have used before... with success... is to top coat the POR 15 with the prescribed "binder coat" then spary paint over it...... just getting lazy and cheap in my old ays and tried to save a step..... Now I have tos trip and redo!!!!

So when do we piss up a brewery???

Bob Carriere · #8 09-06-04, 05:39

Bummer!!!!

The dowel pins for the engine to bellhousing came in today....finally...... and they don't fit........

They are made by Lakewood.... for aligning small block Chev V8

...so beware..... the parts man and I made the assumptions that they were all the same size... and they only have one size........NYET..... the old Chev six had small pins..... approx. 3/8 the new pins for the V8 is about 9/16.... beautifully made with offsets of 0 to .007 and .007 to .015... after crying with the machine shop manager we concluded that there is not enough metal in the block and particularly with the bellhousing to safely redrill a larger size.... it would really weaken the assembly....... so we will try to assemble as is with some slight adjustment to bring it within .010....manual calls for .008 and will install a good needle pilot bearing in the crankshaft....

Also found the proper size dished pulley for the short shaft water pump on the 261..... it is all chromed but will be buffed and repainted gray.... the 4 holes will have to be redrilled to fit the bolt pattern of the old pump......

The engine should be in my barn by next week....... better make some room...