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#1
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Bell housing issue
Got the motor out of my car today............cleaned up the bellhousing, not sure what the deal on this is.............thought i would run it by you guys............casting mark or crack.????
Looked at a few bell"s on the web..............seems they are missing this. Rich |
#2
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Seam where the casting forms come together.
Not an issue.
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1964 Tempest Coupe LS3/4L70E/3.42 1964 Le Mans Convertible 421 HO/TH350/2.56 2002 WS6 Convertible LS1/4L60E/3.23 |
#3
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Nothing on the outside?
I've seen some weird things in the aluminum. This a little different. Could try grinding the 'crack' in a little spot and see how far it goes? Didn't see B-man's response. Would agree with that.
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John Wallace - johnta1 Pontiac Power RULES !!! www.wallaceracing.com Winner of Top Class at Pontiac Nationals, 2004 Cordova Winner of Quick 16 At Ames 2004 Pontiac Tripower Nats KRE's MR-1 - 1st 5 second Pontiac block ever! "Every man has a right to his own opinion, but no man has a right to be wrong in his facts." "People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid." – Socrates |
#4
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Quote:
what im trying to wrap my head around is, on new bells or used bells, im not seeing that mark on any of them............ If someone has a pic with a bell like that.............i would feel a little better, throw up a pic of one will ya. Rich |
#5
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All normal features on a production line aluminum casting
You’re worrying about nothing. Leave it alone and move on to the real important stuff.
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1964 Tempest Coupe LS3/4L70E/3.42 1964 Le Mans Convertible 421 HO/TH350/2.56 2002 WS6 Convertible LS1/4L60E/3.23 |
#6
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I agree with sanding it down and see what happens. It does look like it’s in the casting .
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LIFT HEAVY, LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO BE SMALL! |
#7
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The casting line should disappear if you carefully grind it down.
If the casting line does show some voids in the casting I would scrap it. Tom V.
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"Engineers do stuff for reasons" Tom Vaught Despite small distractions, there are those who will go Forward, Learning, Sharing Knowledge, Doing what they can to help others move forward. |
#8
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IMO, the housing is not cracked. You can do a couple non-destructive tests on the "crack" to see. 1, lightly strike it with a little hammer and see if it rings like a bell, thus the name. 2. Have it dye penetrant tested. Easy process, non-destructive. I say it's not cracked because the crack does not continue to the bolt hole. The housing would need a starting point for the crack, a stress point. A bolt hole would make sense. Then it would continue to another point like the transmission pilot hole. Similar to the way a windshield cracks edge to edge. Grinding to see what happens will work as well. Some better detailed pics would help.
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#9
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I think it's very unlikely to be a crack rather than a simple casting line. My TH400 has similar looking casting lines in some places. Just part of the manufacturing process.
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1966 Pontiac GTO (restoration thread) 1998 BMW 328is (track rat) 2023 Subaru Crosstrek Limited (daily) View my photos: Caught in the Wild |
#10
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Warm it up with a propane torch, if it's a crack, it will open up as it's heated. I really think it's a parting line from the die casting process though.
The reason you don't see it on other used BH is because there are many dies used, not all are cast in the same die, so they differ slightly from piece to piece. I definitely have seen lines in other Pontiac cast aluminum housings similar to yours, not at all uncommon
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Brad Yost 1973 T/A (SOLD) 2005 GTO 1984 Grand Prix 100% Pontiacs in my driveway!!! What's in your driveway? If you don't take some of the RACETRACK home with you, Ya got cheated Last edited by Sirrotica; 09-29-2022 at 10:48 AM. |
#11
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Common look on the many, many bellhousings I've seen and installed over the years. Clean it up and install it.
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62' Lemans, Nostalgia Super Stock, 541 CI, IA2 block, billet 4.5" crank, Ross, Wide port Edelbrocks, Gustram intake, 2 4150 style BLP carbs, 2.10 Turbo 400, 9" w/4:30 gears, 8.76 @153, 3100lbs |
#12
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Thanks guys, im thinking of just using it, i dont race the car or anything like that, or the more i think about it, is to get a quick time bell and call it a day.
Joke of the day so far, thought might as well pratice indexing the bell housing.........got the cheapy from HF.............dont know how anyone can get that to work. lol Rich |
#13
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I bet if you run your fingers over the "crack" it will be a high spot. If so, that mark was made from a crack in the die (the female tool into which the molten aluminum was cast). All the rest of those little spider "cracks" around the bolt bosses were also from cracks in the die.
You don't really need to do anything with it. It's more of a cosmetic thing than a structural issue. |
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