The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Removing the Bellhousing

I need help. I have my 1954 261 on my engine hoist and I am attempting to take the bellhousing off. How does it come off? I'm not having a lot of luck figuring it out.

I know for a lot of you this is probably a pretty easy task. I am kind of new to all this and was hoping I could get some help. Thanks in advance for anyone's help.

Tom

I am pretty sure there are four bolts. Two are outside the bellhousing and two are on the inside at the bottom. The bottom ones are kind of hidden and people seem to miss them.
Good Luck

Tom,

I am only asking this because you say you are kind of new to all this. Did you remove the flywheel? It has to come off before you can remove some of the bolts that hold the clutch housing to the engine (many of us scratched our heads before we figured this out).

Tim

Maybe I'm pointing out the obvious, but the clutch and flywheel should be removed in order to access the two "inside" bolts...

Andrew

Tim, funny we posted that at the same time...

All,

This is the type of information I need. Please state the obvious. I still have the flywheel on the engine. So let's start with removing the flywheel and go form there. How many bolts hold the flywheel on and how so I get to them?

Thanks so much for the help.

Looking at the rear of the bellhousing you will see a big hole. Look in there and you will see the bolts that hold the flywheel on. Take them off counterclockwise and take note of the washers as you take them off. When you get to the last one be careful so it won't fall on your foot or worse. If you have removed the two bolts on the top of the bellhousing put them back in a few threads and go underneath inside the bellhousing and you will see two others that bolt the bellhousing to the block take them completely out and then holding on to the bellhousing with one hand take out the outside bolts and remove the bellhousing. Your done.

Keep in mind that the flywheel bolts are not very deep and you should use a 6 point socket. They (the bolts) will also have "locking tabs" which need to be bent back, essentially a metal tab under the bolt with the corners bent upward to prevent the bolt from loosening.

Andy

52pu,

Thanks for the step by step information. That information is more clear than any manual I have ever read. I will certainly follow your advice and hopefully be successful.

I actually have looked in the big hole and removed 3 bolts. There kind of difficult to get to and the flywheel still seem pretty tight. I'm not looking at it now, how many bolts total hold the flywheel on?

Did you remove the clutch? The bolt for the clutch are on the outer perimeter of the flywheel, I think there are 6 or 8. Once the clutch pressure plate and disc are removed, the flywheel bolts are located in the "center", and I think there 6...

I had to heat my flywheel bolts with a propane torch and use an impact wrench with a 6-point socket to get mine off.

chevy 51 you have to remove the pressure plate,clutch disk and flywheel toget to the bell housing bolts. 6 bolts around the outer edge of the pressure plate gets that and the clutch disk. then theres six bolts that hold the bellhouse on 2outside and 4 inside around the crank flange

Chev51: I dunno if they make the manuals in the years you want but "Chilton Auto Manuals" are really good.

I think you guys should work together & make your own step by step manuals "Rebuilding your Stovebolt". I didn't even have an engine in front of me but I could follow that. Some of these manuals usually skip important parts.

Update on my bellhousing. All of you can pat yourselves on the back, I successfully removed my bellhousing. I know, I know; it's really not that tough of a job, but when your engine is stuck it's kind of hard to get to all of the bolts. Oh, and when it's your first it makes it a little tougher as well. I am sure I will have lots of other questions as I continue this project. I want to thank everyone that provided assistance and their knowledge. :p

Tom