steamgas Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 i have a 1940 Buick motor out of the car and need to remove the bell-housing.the flywheel,clutch,clutch disk and throughout bearing are still attached to the block.i removed the dust cover and 4 bolts that hold the bell-housing from the out side.i can see 2 dowel pins above them.my question is what holds the top of the bell-housing and the process to remove it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Car Geek Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 Steamgas, what I found when I removed the bell housing on my '37 Special is that there are two bolts on the inside of the bell housing that need to be removed. To access these you need to remove the flywheel. To remove the flywheel I had to take off the oil pan AND the rear main seal to allow access to the nuts. Attached is a picture of my rear main bearing cap removed. Here is a link to a little writeup I did on the procedure last year. http://cargeekjournal.com/1937-buick/engine-engine/-Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
39BuickEight Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 I'm with Chris, check the inside for additional bolts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steamgas Posted November 24, 2014 Author Share Posted November 24, 2014 thanks guys for the valuable information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 I have a pic of a bellhousing with slots cut strategically at the top and close to the rear of motor with a die grinder etc with a cutoff wheel that allows accsess to the upper bellhpousing bolts to remove without taking oilpan maincap off. Send a pm with you email and I can forward the pic if you want.i have a 1940 Buick motor out of the car and need to remove the bell-housing.the flywheel,clutch,clutch disk and throughout bearing are still attached to the block.i removed the dust cover and 4 bolts that hold the bell-housing from the out side.i can see 2 dowel pins above them.my question is what holds the top of the bell-housing and the process to remove it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 h Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steamgas Posted November 25, 2014 Author Share Posted November 25, 2014 thanks 2carb40.it is not what i was expecting.question!will the bell housing move back far enough to pass the dowel pin's?do you think it would destroy the integrity of the part to cut out a window like a modern bell housing?then fashion a metal cover for it.it looks like it would be difficult to install the bolts with not much room for the insertion of them.what about boring a hole large enough for a socket too pass through to reach the bolts?dose it have a direct path over the flywheel to achieve this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 thanks 2carb40.it is not what i was expecting.question!will the bell housing move back far enough to pass the dowel pin's?do you think it would destroy the integrity of the part to cut out a window like a modern bell housing?then fashion a metal cover for it.it looks like it would be difficult to install the bolts with not much room for the insertion of them.what about boring a hole large enough for a socket too pass through to reach the bolts?dose it have a direct path over the flywheel to achieve this?All good ?s. I found this on the team buick site and downloaded the picture. It intrigued me, but I didn't print the whole article. if you Google Teambuick and go to straight eights in the menu you can search the posts, but you should set aside some time(endless good info)you may be stuck there awhile! Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Email tried failed that was in PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steamgas Posted November 26, 2014 Author Share Posted November 26, 2014 okgot the picture on this threadtex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonMicheletti Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Question? Why do you need to remove the bell housing? Is there something wrong with it? Cracked? Otherwise, if you are going to do an engine rebuild, you are going to remove all that required stuff anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steamgas Posted November 26, 2014 Author Share Posted November 26, 2014 yes i plan on overhauling the engine.i may leave the bell housing on and leave the flywheel on also and lift the crankshaft and flywheel out as one unit.is this the way it should be done? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Bruce aka First Born Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 yes i plan on overhauling the engine.i may leave the bell housing on and leave the flywheel on also and lift the crankshaft and flywheel out as one unit.is this the way it should be done? I removed the flywheel, left the bellhousing in place. Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonMicheletti Posted November 27, 2014 Share Posted November 27, 2014 I'm not sure if you can remove the crank and flywheel as an assembly. I have always taken the flywheel off first - it is easy once that rear cap is off.. One liability with taking the two out together is that is HEAVY.One crappy thing about the Buicks is that the flywheel can go back on 6 ways - It can be put on incorrectly and the timing marks can be in the wrong place. Taking the crank and flywheel out together would eliminate that problem. Assuming it is right in the first place. Buicks are the only engines I have seen this possible. Usually there is a dowel pin so the flywheel cant be put on wrong.On my '38, when I tried to do a tuneup, the first time after I bought it, couldn't find the timing marks for the points - the flywheel had been installed in the wrong place and the marks were useless. I ended up just timing it by ear - no big deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glassesguy Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Just want to confirm Don's post on the flywheel that can be put on incorrectly. I have a 47 248 that was installed in a 37 Special. With the engine out of the car I was checking the connecting rod clearances and pulling out the clutch assembly to check its condition. With an understanding that the flywheel could be put on incorrectly I decided to check this out as well. Sure enough, with #1 and # 8 pistons at UDC, as stamped on the flywheel itself, the timing mark did not appear anywhere near the timing hole in the bellhousing. After removing the rear main bearing and seal, I removed the flywheel bolts (no dowel pins in sight) and rotated the flywheel (HEAVY!!) Now the marks line up. Thanks for the heads up on this, Don. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now