Engine and Transmission Tech

Jim and I were discussing alternatives to get his B on the road. If he can acquire a few parts, he can get the MG going with a T5 in time for Lewisburg. He needs to pick up a bell housing that will work with his 340, plus flywheel, clutch kit, etc.

Any BOP bell from 65 on will work, but the best one is 75-80 231 Buick V6 H body, Monza, Skyhawk and Starfire. Origanally cable clutch so pivot is on other side like Ford. Mike Moor did a slave cylinder set up on his and Chris Gill uses a HTOB.

Dan I have a couple of the BOP bell housings. PM me for pictures or a price. They both came out of a mid 70s Monzaskyhawkstarfire. One might even have the lower sheetmetal cover, but then again I may be thinking of one of the 215 bell housings. There is also a V6 Camaro chevy pattern T5, but that may be spoken for. I also have a brand new T-50 thats been sitting in that unfinished home build 2 seat race car thing I picked up a couple of years ago. Been there since 1980 or so.

Unfortunately, I was unaware that this thread was here, or I would have tried the external slave setup. Instead, I had already set up a bid and bought a bell for $85(including shipping).

I think I've got about all the parts I need coming in now, aside from the driveshaft which will have to wait until the transmission is in the car,

Jim

How's the progress Jim.
I see that Carl broke his toe to try and speed up his project.
I'm not familiar with that particular process, but if it works......

I could try it I guess, but I've never had much luck that way. There's a lot I don't know though so maybe Carl has it figured out. If the driveshaft isn't right again when it comes in today I'd be tempted to try it out.

So that's the big if. The next big if is getting the clutch to disengage. You'll like this one Fred. In order to use the GM style HTOB with the bent finger PP I had to cut down the slave travel by about 1/2". Still feasible but setup becomes considerably more critical. I opted to leave a bit over half of the remaining travel for wear and use a pedal stop, leaving a bit less than 1/4" for disengagement. It's going to be close, and if it isn't enough the only remedy is to remove the transmission/bellhousing as a unit (difficult) and put a shim between the seal and the piston in the HTOB. I'm really keeping my fingers crossed on that one.

But if that works, there's just a couple of manual override wires for the radiator fans to put in, reinstall the center console, do some tuning and clean up and test drives.

Jim

Just bought a said-to-be 1963 4bbl 215 Buick. Treating it as a complete core, hopefully will disassemble without too many surpises

Found this stamped on the block pad just in front of the passenger side cylinder head

If reading as if the front of the engine is "up" the stampings are: JN 475
Could these be rebuilder's marks?

If reading as if the rear of the engine is "up" the stampings are: 3J2511949
I'm guessing this might be either the engine number, or the VIN. Don't know what GM did in 1963

Can anyone help me with this one before I proceed? Looking to put into my Jensen Healey to build what the factory should have built



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/10/2017 08:12PM by allstateguy.

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Thank you Moderator, found the great code breakdown. Only thing missing was there is no "3" listed as a model code on the Model Code cell of the chart. Everything else confirmed what the seller had told me: 1963 Buick 200hp 4bbl engine.

Now if someone will please explain how I can start a thread rather than just posting in a place where I found the Preview/Post Message buttons. Curious newbie!

You're welcome. And by the way... welcome to BritishV8!


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