Weight - Ford Bellhousing vs. Scattershield

[Brigand]

I'm having my Tiger restored at the moment and am approaching the stage of reassembly (well sometime in the next 12 months anyway).
I bought the car with a scattershield fitted, an as I'm sure you know that's bloody heavy. Having never seen or held an alloy bellhousing I have no idea how much lighter one would be/what sort of weight saving one would bring.

I have read and digested what has been written about the safety aspects of having a scattershield and have concluded that as my car has a mildly warmed over 289 and will be driven on the road I reckon I'll be fine with an alloy housing.

I also seem to remember (but need to check) that a scattershield needs to have some modifications to the gearbox tunnel to fit correctly. Is this true? Having just spent a considerable amount getting the whole shell, tunnel included, looking as it did when it left Jenson I'd rather not start modifying things.

 

[0neoffive]

T

I'm having my Tiger restored at the moment and am approaching the stage of reassembly (well sometime in the next 12 months anyway).
I bought the car with a scattershield fitted, an as I'm sure you know that's bloody heavy. Having never seen or held an alloy bellhousing I have no idea how much lighter one would be/what sort of weight saving one would bring.

I have read and digested what has been written about the safety aspects of having a scattershield and have concluded that as my car has a mildly warmed over 289 and will be driven on the road I reckon I'll be fine with an alloy housing.

I also seem to remember (but need to check) that a scattershield needs to have some modifications to the gearbox tunnel to fit correctly. Is this true? Having just spent a considerable amount getting the whole shell, tunnel included, looking as it did when it left Jenson I'd rather not start modifying things.

There is quite a weight savings. Is your 289 a 5- bolt or 6- bolt mounting? I have the modified 6- bolt bell that accept the narrow case HEHE tranny if you need one.

 

[Brigand]

Mine's a 6 bolt.

Thanks for the offer 😀 , I'm in the UK so shipping and import duties my be an issue.....

One of the reasons I'm asking the question, apart from the tunnel mods I've already mentioned, is to work out whether it's worth trying to track down a suitable bell housing here, or stick with the scattershield.

Hopefully the photos of what I have will be attached below.

 

[Warren]

I don't think in 11 years I have tried to break my clutch by winding it up to excess of RPM and then dropping the hammer.
Our events don't really get set up to encourage the practice.
I suppose if you looked on eBay you could see what somebody has said the shipping weight was on one. I have both six bolt and five bolt sitting in the storage. Be happy to guesstimate for you.

 

[0neoffive]

Mine's a 6 bolt.

Thanks for the offer 😀 , I'm in the UK so shipping and import duties my be an issue.....

One of the reasons I'm asking the question, apart from the tunnel mods I've already mentioned, is to work out whether it's worth trying to track down a suitable bell housing here, or stick with the scattershield.

Hopefully the photos of what I have will be attached below.

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View attachment 13658

Something that you want to pay particular attention to is the center hole diameter MUST match the bearing retainer size on the front of the transmission. You may need the next size retainer for the small nosed HEHE. This is a critical factor for preventing vibration failures. DO NOT rely on the 4 bolts keeping the tranny nose where it belongs during use.

 

[Too Tech]

To answer the initial question:
A stock 5 bolt aluminum housing with the clutch fork included weight 8 pounds.
A stock "Quicktime" steel bellhousing with fork for the same application weighs 20 pounds.
You can weigh your own steel bellhousing and fork to compare the numbers.

 

[66TigerMK1A]

Something that you want to pay particular attention to is the center hole diameter MUST match the bearing retainer size on the front of the transmission. You may need the next size retainer for the small nosed HEHE. This is a critical factor for preventing vibration failures. DO NOT rely on the 4 bolts keeping the tranny nose where it belongs during use.

Good advice! The Lakewood only accepts the 'larger' diameter bearing retainer from the later toploaders but has mounting holes for both early and late trans... I got one from Dan Williams toploaders but there are a few other toploader specialists that would have them too. Very important to dial that bell housing hole to the engine!! You can either use offset dowels or long dowels through an oversized hole in the bell and then weld on a sleeve... I did the latter and when changing bloks you have to do it again! They aren't near as true as a factory housing and if it's out, there will be misalignment that adds stress and can chew up the ring gear when the starter engages... ask me how I know !!

 

[0neoffive]

Good advice! The Lakewood only accepts the 'larger' diameter bearing retainer from the later toploaders but has mounting holes for both early and late trans... I got one from Dan Williams toploaders but there are a few other toploader specialists that would have them too. Very important to dial that bell housing hole to the engine!! You can either use offset dowels or long dowels through an oversized hole in the bell and then weld on a sleeve... I did the latter and when changing bloks you have to do it again! They aren't near as true as a factory housing and if it's out, there will be misalignment that adds stress and can chew up the ring gear when the starter engages... ask me how I know !!

I usually buy the larger bearing retainer (1-1/16" ) for the spread mount HEH-CF or RUG and install it on the HEHE. Works great and centers the tranny input where it belongs.

 

[66TigerMK1A]

I usually buy the larger bearing retainer (1-1/16" ) for the spread mount HEH-CF or RUG and install it on the HEHE. Works great and centers the tranny input where it belongs.

That’s all good but I put a mag base on the flywheel with a dial indicator and found that the Lakewood ‘hole’ wasn’t quite centered on the crankshaft. Just sayin...

 

[0neoffive]

That’s all good but I put a mag base on the flywheel with a dial indicator and found that the Lakewood ‘hole’ wasn’t quite centered on the crankshaft. Just sayin...

Good call Jim. I've noted that issue on several aftermarket bells over the years. Odd that the old tech aluminum bells are dead on (most of the time).

 

[66TigerMK1A]

Good call Jim. I've noted that issue on several aftermarket bells over the years. Odd that the old tech aluminum bells are dead on (most of the time).

Yep. Never heard of an issue with ‘factree’ bells