I have a Muncie M 21 transmission in my 59 with a Lakewood scatter shield, and old style bellhousing mounted starter. I have the opportunity to pick up a dated 59 cast iron bellhousing. Can I use my trans with it and have no problems.
Trying to bring the car back to stock looking after owning it for 40 years as a retrorod.

 

I don't know but Tom Parsons will!!

 

Exactly, my first thought!

 

Iron flywheel Id absolutely leave the scattershield on they can come apart at any rpm. Only get 2 legs and 1 shot at life.

 

I WILL NOT participate in ANY debate, discussion, opinion or recommendations regarding bell housings vs scatter shields. That at will have to be left up to the owner as a personal choice.
But, what I will do is answer the question.
YES, beginning with the first Chevy V8 in 1955, the rear of ALLLLLLLLLLL Chevy blocks and bell housings have the exact same mating surface and bolt pattern. So, any year bell housing will bolt right up to any displacement Chevy block, SB, W-motor, BB, it doesn't matter.
The bolt pattern on the rear of the crankshafts, beginning in 55 to 85 is also the same. Thus, ANY 55-85 flywheel will bolt up to ANY 55-85 crankshaft. YES, some engines require a specific flywheel, but the BOLT PATTERN is the same on all of them.
ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL 55-62 Corvettes used ONLY the larger, 168 teeth flywheel. The smaller, 153 teeth flywheel WAS NOT in use until 1963.
So, if you change to a 59 bell housing, you MUST use the larger 168 teeth flywheel. You will need to use the bell housing mounted starter (3 bolts).

Also, beginning in 1955, the bell housing/tranny mating surface/bolt patterns for manual tranny is the same. Even the aftermarket trannys are made to bolt up to a stock Chevy bell housing. The ONLY model/year that is different (NO ONE has a clue why Chevy did it) is the hole in the center of the 1963 bell housing. The hole is smaller and the front bearing retainer on 63 trannys is also smaller. But all the other years are the same size holes.

Here is some information/pictures I put together in the past on the Chevelle forum. http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=142525 There is also more information/pictures on pgs 4-5 of this discussion.

Tom Parsons

 

I have posted it here twice why it was done.

 

I believe that the OP is simply trying to ascertain whether or not he can use the M-21 with the cast iron bell housing. Not whether the bellhousing will bolt up.

 

He is using the bellhousing mounted starter which means he has the big(right one) flywheel. The stock '59 bellhousing is compatible with his transmission and other related parts he already has.

Should be a bolt in.

 

There may be one more engine, albeit one that would be difficult to obtain, that has the same bell housing bolt pattern as these early Chebbys: A Toyota NASCAR pushrod V8.

Seriously.

I saw one of these on a stand at the Historics a few years ago.... about the time Toyota decided to enter NASCAR racing. As I studied it from all angles, I saw the bell housing bolt pattern and immediately recognized the familiar arrangement of alignment pins and attaching bolts.

Gave me a little bit of a chuckle....

Jim

 

If memory serves me correctly, the inline 6 cyl motors of the early 1970's Toyota landcruisers used a Chev bell housing bolt pattern. Someone told me the Toyo 6 was a copy of the Chev inline 6 cyl motor and that many parts would interchange, but I have no personal knowledge if that is true.

Doug

 

I like to thank all who replied to my bellhousing question. 66BlkBB and Mike M you really answered my question as to mating of the Muncie trans to the stock bellhousing.
Tom Parsons you really went into detail and the pictures at the Chevelle forum are great, which now brings up another question. The cast iron bellhousing that I can purchase has provisions for side engine mounts,are you saying the 59 corvette did not come with those. I don't want to purchase the wrong housing.

 

Pass cars and Vettes shared the same bell housing. Those side mounts on the bell housing were used ONLY on 55-57 pass cars. So, you're good to go.

Tom Parsons

 

Yep I tell my friends about that one all the time - at the Toyota display in Daytona during Speedweeks they have their NASCAR engine on display with the Chevy bellhousing bolt pattern - pretty wild.

You could win some bets on that one !

Just like the Ford 9" that they all run regardless of "brand" LOL

 

Just make sure that the cast iron bell housing has the provision for bolting up the clutch Z-Bar pivot bracket to the side, and has the correct center hole for the transmission input bearing retainer (rear hole in the bell housing should be essentially the same diameter as the bearing retainer). Chevy trucks of that era used the same style open bottom bell housing, but did not have the Z-bar bracket mounting holes, and the rear hole for the trans was larger (which you do not want to use, since that center hole is what centers the trans to the bell housing).

Plasticman

 

Good point. I made that mistake. Correct casting no. is 3733365.

 

Also, note that there are TWO different 3733365 casting bellhousings; both were made from the 365 casting, but they were machined differently. The Corvette part was machined for the clutch fork pivot stud with 13/16"-16 threads, round flanged head and a female hex drive that installs from the transmission side, and the passenger car version was machined for a 7/16"-20 thread for a different pivot stud that installed from the clutch side. The passenger car housings are plentiful, and the Corvette housings are not; don't buy the wrong one based only on the casting number.

 

Everyone, thanks for all the good tips and advice

 

Hey John:

I disagree based on a study I've done on dated 3733365 offered on ebay.

Here's what I've found:

stud from inside: K86, C197

stud from outside: I87, I97, I198, J288, K298

My guess is that Chevy changed the design so that the stud could be changed without having to remove the bellhousing...?

Not sure when the change occurred, but I haven't seen a '58 (after I87) or '59 3733365 with the stud installed from the inside...yet.

(Lucky for me, since I needed a '59 housing to for my '59. I removed the original cast iron housing in 1964 and replaced it with a '62 aluminum one.)

Bill

 

I'm sure my '59 has a '58 dated bell housing WITH side mounts AND the correct Corvette style ball stud.

The thing I am always leery about with the '60 - '63 aluminum bell h'sg is how much deflection sag must occur due to the awful way GM decided to mount the motor.
I feel (without digging into my old school books) that the aluminum stretches more than Cast Iron and consequently impacts transmission / input shaft alignment and wear.

 

Not to highjack this thread, but I have a question about a 3733365 bellhousing that I bought yesterday. It was thought to be a 55-57 passenger car setup but was recently removed from a 39 Ford.

The bellhousing has the 13/16 threads on the pivot stud and the pivot stud mounts from the transmission side. Does this definitely make it a Corvette bellhousing? It has the following casting marks directly across from the pivot stud:

5 C C
1-30-74

Any idea what the casting marks signify?

Thanks Doug