Bellhousing cracked.. two options.. opinions?

[BrandOmatic]

my bellhousing is apparently cracked really bad, and that \"Ultra-bell\" replacement seems like a decent fix for $230, provided my case isn\'t cracked beyond what a new bellhousing will replace. but a guy i know said he hasn\'t heard of those ultra-bell units except on really fast applications.. like 10\'s or faster. he\'s sure that if i swap tranny cases and let him build me a stronger transmission crossmember, it\'ll never break again. he says that the stock crossmember flexes and twists and lets the bellhousing bear too much stress, then it cracks. but i didn\'t get a price for him building this crossmember for my truck..



so heres the options.

1.)my case can be fixed with an ultra-bell for $230, problem solved forever most likely.

2.)case is cracked too badly, needs swapped. $xxx dollars for that, plus $xxx for having a crossmember built.



what do you guys think?

[adh383]

get a price on the crossmember

[riotpolice75]

drill 2 holes in the bellhousing. one at either end of the crack. itll keep it from spreading.







smith

[s101982]

Lets look at why it cracked first. I run a glide in my truck. It runs 6.40\'s in the 1/8th. I havent broken a bellhousing yet and I use the stock crossmember. when I had the th400 in it all the mounts were solid. When I went to a glide my builder told me to put a urethane mount on the trans or it would snap the case from being to ridgid.The crossmember is\'nt the problem. Alot of drag cars that have front and rear motor plates dont even use a trans mount, it just hangs in the wind. So how is yours mounted? I assume it\'s a th350 which is similar in size to the glide.

I will say this, the ultra bell may be a few bucks but you will never need a scatter shield as it\'s NHRA approved as one.

[BrandOmatic]

well i\'ve got new factory 2.8 frame mounts and the stealth conversion mounts holding the motor in. then i have the stock trans crossmember for the 4 cyl & 5 speed.. and the tranny mount is i assume a factory piece. bolts on the trans with two bolts, then has thick rubber with a stud sticking out the center. so i don\'t know, i\'m not a pro.. why did it break? the way i see it, the whole motor twists on the rubber mounts, and the tranny is only mounted through the crossmember with 1 stud and a large nut. i\'d think that the trans kind of \"pivots\" back and forth on that stud as the motor moves around. i don\'t know??

[Scotty_S-15]

I doubt if the crossmember is the problem. And yes, I\'d think the rear mount would let the trans \"float\" a little, and that\'s a good thing.

......... Why did it break? Who knows. Seems to be a mystery. I broke 2 myself before going to a Ultra Bell. (actually broke 3, that one with unrelated cause) Vibrations are probably a factor, along with the possibility of something binding or hitting. Not to mention that some TH350 cases are scary thin, and some castings look like shit. Cutting the ears off for extra clearance when putting them in an S-10 can\'t help the matter either.

[ChevyKiD_69]

hey scotty you shouldnt have to cut the side of the bell housing bc racer1182 and i when we replaced our trannies in our s10 we left the bellhousing alone even fit in the truck with the exhaust on it also it was a tight fit but it did. but me i broke my bellhousing in 2 pretty much the only thing that was holding mine together was a part of the belhousing on the driver side about 2\" long. but any more when i do a swap iam not even going to cut them just incase it wants to break again got a little more support. me personally i would use the hefty bellhousing if you are going to reuild it or sence you got to fix it you may as well spend a little more money and get it done right jm2c. nick

[BrandOmatic]

oh yeah, i forgot about that \"cutting the ears off\" to make room for the exhaust. mine is cut off on the drivers side only i think. Scotty, what\'d you have to do with your ultra-bell to make it fit with your exhaust????

[Scotty_S-15]

On 2006-07-18 13:13, BrandOmatic wrote:

oh yeah, i forgot about that \"cutting the ears off\" to make room for the exhaust. mine is cut off on the drivers side only i think. Scotty, what\'d you have to do with your ultra-bell to make it fit with your exhaust????



I trimmed my Ultra-Bell a little also. So I guess my \"certification\" went out the window. http://www.s10v8.com/images/smilies/icon_razz.gif But it\'s mega-beefy. Gotta be 5 times more meat than a stock bellhousing. And, much better material & casting techniques.