Bell housing
 

Need some help by you experts. A friend had his engine and trans rebuilt. The builder found some damage to the bell housing so he put another one on it. My friend puts his engine in and the pedals don’t fit the holes and the gear shift hits his instrument panel in reverse and second.
It looks like the bell housing is not a good fit.
Is a B engine bell housing different from an A?

Re: Bell housing
 

Sounds to me something has gone wrong with the reinstallation. An A bell housing is an A bell housing just that simple (excluding multidisc ) The B bell housing is different and does not directly interchange could be a motor mount problem .

John in Suffolk County England .

Re: Bell housing
 

Hi, could it be from an AA truck they are about 2 inches shorter.

Re: Bell housing
 

This true, but that would be for the Borg-Warner 4-speed. Unless your friend got a "bonus" transmission (this was done factory actually) out of the deal.

Some "commercial" A Fords or cars subject to unusually heavy service were fitted with a 4-speed after it was offered. Also for use with a power take off which might has been used to drive some machine in the car.

I don't think an AA Borg-warner bell housing can be used against a three speed without modification. (This was not done.)

Joe K

Re: Bell housing
 

Its not the bell housing.

It's the shift lever

Don't remember exact details but there was a change in the shift lever somewhere between 28/29 and 30/31. All reproshift levers are the same so need to check service bulletins for details.

Richard
Anaheim CA

Re: Bell housing
 

The B housing looks like the upper half of an A housing, but is not. The large mounting holes on the sides are located differently than those on the A.

Re: Bell housing
 

Maybe but how does that account for the pedals not fitting?

Re: Bell housing
 

The early bell housings had a smaller diameter pedal shaft.

Tom Endy

Re: Bell housing
 

Tom...Is the best solution to just enlarge the holes for the brake and clutch so that they fit, or is a different set of floor boards required to make everything look right? Also is it possible that the engine is not centered in the car? I once found an engine not centered as the front motor mount was a home made/shop made sort of thing...Ernie in Arizona

Re: Bell housing
 

28-29 shift levers have a 15 deg bend in them.
30-31 shift levers have a 20 deg bend in them, moving the shift lever further away from the dash.

Sounds like, in addition to the bell housing, the transmission top or lever was also changed.

I'm at a loss to understand "Pedals don't fit the holes". If it was an early bellhousing with smaller dia shafts, pedals would also need to be changed.

I think we need additional information as to what was replaced vs what was rebuilt (like the issue with the transmission shift lever or top). Is this an early housing? Have the pedals been replaced? Are the stops on the pedals properly mating? Are the floorboards correct?

Re: Bell housing
 

From the beginning of production to November 1928 the Model A had a multi-disk clutch and used a different design bell housing than the after that date. The pedal shaft was 3\4" diameter and the holes in the pedals were that size and did not use bushings.

After November 1928 Model A's used a single disk clutch and used a different design bell housing. The pedal shaft was a 7\8" diameter and the pedal holes were that size with bushings. If an early bell housing is installed in a later car it is not compatible.

Tom Endy

Re: Bell housing
 

UPDATE: He put it all together and the only issues that he can live with are: Pedals seem shifted a bit inboard and there is not enough pedal shaft length to space them out. Gear shift lever hits his temp gage at the end of its travel. He may move his gage or bend the lever. He is happy with the engine power and everything else. We will give it a good shakedown run this week.
Thanks for all your info and comments.

Re: Bell housing
 

Re: Bell housing
 

Have you tried comparing it to a similar Model A to see what differences there are?

Re: Bell housing
 

If the shift lever has too much travel it may need the ball re-worked inside the transmission.

Re: Bell housing
 

He does have float a mtr's but they look good. I'm thinking that the forks may be put it backwards. Never tried it.
We do intend to measure a lot of areas and compare it to another A

Re: Bell housing
 

The gear shift lever can be pulled lifted up and rotated 180 degrees and let back down give that a try.