So what do I look for as a cause of this. Bell housing cracked under normal driving. Was not being raced at the time of failure. I know to look for broken motor and trans mounts, they were new about 2000 miles ago. Engine is a slightly built 455 And driven by an 18 year old with a lead foot. Called and said it back fired leaving a stop light. Took a minute to restart and then said was smoking on way home. Said drove fine but I followed the small Trans fluid trail home lol.
Ultra bell sells a bolt on housing, if you want to go that way just cut off the old one. I think it’s was the torque, wouldn’t be the first one LOL
I was just looking at those Have another th350 I can put in it Guess put it in and hope for the best If that one blows up soon should we look into getting a th400 instead? Don't think engine is built enough to need a built maybe that one was just stressed. It did have a broken part of ear that was missing around one of the guide pins but wasn't cracked at all. Maybe just weak? Hope next donor lasts. It worked just fine behind my 350 for years.
Son and I swapped in another th350 last night. He graduates high school today and really wanted his car. Was bummed bad when it broke on last day off school. Guess we will see how long it takes him to snap this one. Bell housing was cracked all the way around. Had to take out one front corner pan bolt and it came off the rest of the trans. He broke it good. All the Trans mounted are good and it lines up straight. Was split clear back in line with the pump bolts basically. Damn torque monster.
Glad it’s up and running again. I would either build up a TH-350 or a 400 as with the led foot it’s only a matter of time till he hurts this one LOL. Any good shop can build a 350 to handle 500 Hp easily.
Breaking a case like that is rare. It might have been cracked for awhile and then let go. The only time I have ever seen that is when someone drops a drive shaft at the track. The shock usually cracks the case. When I removed my SP trans to replace it with a fixed pitch, I noticed the case had been previously cracked and repaired (welded). Ran lots of 11 second passes with that transmission, and 1.6 60' times and it was fine.
I broke 3,.....cause was as mentioned Poly trans mount and stock motor mounts,....my current beater has a poly mount but also has the thick case 400,...still not ideal I was just in a rush and it was already on there,...the remedy is simple,....stock trans mount OR and the better solution is an engine limiter,....a ratchet strap works well if you can find a place to get it if it has power steering whulich I'm sure it does
Nope stock old rubber mounts Good condition not broken Ya v6 sure he would go for that hes probably tired of all that power by now
Long read, but worthwhile if one wants to dig into it... When the transmission becomes the member carrying the load, it is gonna break. You need to make sure it is not trying to "compensate" for the components that are responsible for dealing with all the transfer of power from the drivetrain and suspension. When I put a car together, I leave typically install and leave everything "finger tight" and once all major components are installed, then I start working on proper torque, and "bouncing/articulating" as much as possible, so no binding or focused stresses are induced. I learned this in aircraft maintenance and A&P, where any "repair" of condition" that results in a "stronger/more robust" support or repair, will become a focus of force at that point where "greater strength meets lessor strength" and that will become the point of failure. If your transmission case, is therefore the "load carrying" component, and forces it was not designed to carry are imposed upon it, then it is likely to fail. This will either be "obvious" to some, or "WTF are you yammering about?" to others. If you are the second, do some research, it is quite a rabbit trail, and takes more time than I can explain in a single post. And, even if I could explain it all, I cannot understand it for you... (as others have said, all the mounts need to be of good condition and installation, driveline angles need to be correct. Suspension needs to be of good order, set up correctly and operating properly, and no compromise to frame integrity, body mounts, wheels, tires, offsets, alignment and other variables. It's not just a simple thing to be certain all of this is correct.)
I just did the ultrabell on my TH 400 Thursday..It sure is a beefy unit. but $400 as well..Well worth it..
So you literally just cut off the old bell housing and bolt he new one in? How do you know where to cut it?
So trans 2 just broke same as last one Not sure if trans crossmember is shifting on frame or if drive line is bottoming out on trans Never feels like doing hitting I do know ends of trans mount barely reach rubber pads on frame Unsure if came out before or after it broke Think of going to a bolt in crossmember with rubber center mount an recheck driveline length We shouldn't be breaking these
Entertain what trunk monkey wrote, I understand completely what he’s describing and it’s true. There’s SOMETHING putting stress on that bellhousing, and it’s not excessive torque from the engine. The engine and trans. are suppose to move (twist) together, while they probably are, there’s another point that’s stressing that bell housing from another direction. Is the mating surface on the block straight, flat clean and true?
