Mystery Buick bell housing

[Guest Yellowhawk]

I have an after market aluminum Buick bell housing taken off a 1957 Buick 364, coded 6D, Century! I have been told the engine came out of an old motor home. I can not identify the standard transmission that it goes to.

The bolt pattern is 8" across by 4 1/8" high, it is a rectangular pattern the same both top and bottom. The center hole is 5 1/8" with a lip about 1/4" high and 1/8" wide.

I was told by one guy it may be a Packard...but I think a Packard pattern is narrower on the bottom. I am wondering if it is some commercial/endustrial transmission used for motor homes in the 50's.

Anybody got an idea?? Thanks

[Rusty_OToole]

The first commercially made motorhomes were built about 1958 on truck chassis bought from Ford or Dodge .

If your bellhousing came from a motorhome it must have been some kind of home made or custom built job.

It is possible Buick offered a manual trans in 1957, I believe they built some manual trans police cars about that time. It is also possible it is an aftermarket item made by one of the hot rod parts suppliers of the time.

In that case it would most likely be made to take the Warner 3 speed out of a 1937-1950 Cadillac or LaSalle. If it was stock Buick it was most likely made to use the same transmission as they were used in the heavier GM cars like Olds and Buick as well.

[rocketraider]

Can you find any identifying marks on it, as to who made it? Bellhousing conversions were common in the 50s on thru early 60s what with hotrodders transplanting late-model OHV engines into about any old jalopy, and a lot of the nascent speed equipment manufacturers had them. Aluminum was lighter and cheaper to cast than iron and thanks to the war effort, by that time alloys were strong enough to take some abuse.

The Cad-LaSalle box was one of the more popular trans swaps for a hotrod, so that would be my first guess.

[Guest Yellowhawk]

Thanks for the replies. I have an appointment to try a LaSalle trans on Tuesday. I hope it works! The only casting mark on the bellhousing is a "HD8". The disk takes a ten spline pilot shaft.

Thanks again. Keep the guesses coming!

[Guest Yellowhawk]

No numbers on the area where the starter nose goes. It is not a Chev pattern like Muncey, Borg-warner etc. It is not a 60's era Ford toploader. Tried all those last week. A guy suggested Trans-Dept last week and I called them. No Go. I also called Advance Adapter. Thanks for looking!

[Guest Yellowhawk]

Thanks for the response but I own a Bendtsen bell housing. I have it on a 401 and Muncey 4-speed. I called Bob and sent him the pictures and dimensions last week. He is the one that suggested Packard. The 8" by 4 1/8" rectangle does not fit any GM I have found. It also has a large 5 1/8" center hole with a lip. Never seen the lip before!!

Thanks again.