Bellhousing replacement

[andyblackman777]

Hi all,

I was thinking of replacing my cast iron bell housing  for the alloy one. has anyone done this, or does  anyone know what additional parts I may need. Clutch fork, pivot, slave etc??

I have the dual clutch and its an early 96 so should have the alloy bell housing already but it doesn't??

Cheers

Andy

 

[mike_sekinger]

The original twin-plate upgrade kit consisted of the bellhousing, flywheel, clutch, release bearing and an ECU update.

In your case, you should be able to simply replace the bellhousing and move across the pivot to the alloy version, as you already have the working twin-plate clutch.  The old sytle fork and slave arrangement can be used with the newer bellhousing.

[dave excell]

I replaced my iron bellhousing wit an alloy one obtained in one of the lotus sales some years ago. it already had a twin plate clutch when I obtained the car. It was a simple switch with no problems.

[andyblackman777]

Ace thanks guys. just see if I can track one down now!!

[andyblackman777]

Do you have one Mike??😁

[mike_sekinger]

I got my last one from JAE but it was sacrificed for the X-Shift transmission swap.

Maybe Joe Sulka has another.  It was very reasonably priced.

[andyblackman777]

I'll give them a try 

Cheers Mike

[andyblackman777]

I just got this reply from Geoff at Esprit Engineering.  I’m now confused. 
 

Hi Andy
The cars came out with a single plate clutch and a alloy bell housing. The early cars and i mean the first couple of hundred were upgraded to the twin plate AP with the addiction of the cast bell housing to damp out a harmonic vibration at idle. many people think the bell housings went from cast to aluminium in fact it's the other way. we may well have one in stock
 

[mike_sekinger]

No, that is not correct.   There were cast and alloy bellhousings for the single plate clutch, but ONLY alloy bellhousings defined for the twin plate clutch.  It`s clearly noted in the parts manual

My first V8 was one of the early cars and had the free (well "labour only") upgrade to the twin-plate.

[andyblackman777]

This is what I thought I wonder why Geoff thinks differently. ??

Joe from JAE seems to think I need a different slave cylinder mounting bracket. I notice that this changes at  MY98.?? he has them in stock but the bracket is twice the price of the bell housing!!

Also there are two types of alloy bell housing for pre and post MY98. Im thinking that maybe the bracket is not required.

Dave did you have to swap the slave bracket as well??

 

 

 

[mike_sekinger]

5 minutes ago, andyblackman777 said:

This is what I thought I wonder why Geoff thinks differently.

Decades have past and we are all getting older....

[andyblackman777]

Hahah

[dave excell]

No. I didnt have to do anything, but just removed the bracket and clutch fork and install on the alloy bellhousing.

My car had been hacked well and truly by previous garages, with the claim of a new crank (it was a -20 re grind), Many threads, mainly the 6mm ones had been stripped. the worst one was that they tried to remove the main bearing caps with a screwsdriver wedged under the mating surface, probably forgetting the bolts in the side of the block. Oh yes they forgot to remove the cam locking screws before rotating the engine.

[andyblackman777]

Thanks Dave.

Sorry to hear about the poor maintenance!!!!!

[andyblackman777]

Does anyone know the difference between the pre and post MY alloy bell houses? I know the later cars had a different slave arrangement. 
I can get a post MY 98 Alloy bell-housing but I have the earlier car. 🤔

Thanks 

Andy.  

[Steve V8]

This is where I'm at with my transaxle upgrade, I can confirm the the ball shaped pivot from the cast iron bellhousing does not fit the later alloy one. I had considered fettling (bodging) the old pivot in, but thought better of it, and am currently waiting for a later fork and the later cylindrical pivot. 

The slave or slave mounting bracket may also need changing or adjustment, but as those parts are external I'll cross that bridge later on.

[andyblackman777]

Did you have a twin plate clutch originally??

Dave above said his was a simple swap??

I'm beginning to wonder if the part number is only different because the later one came with a clutch fork???

[andyblackman777]

Just been out and looked at a spare cast iron Bell housing I have. I see what you mean about the pivot and because of that the new fork and potentially slave bracket etc. Starts getting expensive.

[Steve V8]

Yes 1996 V8 (september), I was expecting to find a single plate clutch and that the recall had been missed, but was surprised to find a twin plate under that cast iron housing.

The recall for reversal of the recirculation pump had also been missed.

[andyblackman777]

I’m thinking it may be more straightforward to fit the old pivot to the new housing?? I’m sure it could be done. 
 

So I wonder if the difference between the two bell housings is the pivot mounting hole/slot. 

[andyblackman777]

Steve ,

Is the mounting for the slave bracket the same as the cast Iron one? Do the bolt holes line up etc. 
I’m beginning to wonder if it’s worth trying to adapt the later housing. I haven’t purchased one…yet. 
Cheers 

Andy 

[Steve V8]

My old bellhousing went to the scrapyard months ago, the slave mount had a damaged lug so went with it. 

I didn't think to make a precise comparison, but did take this photo of the old and new, they look the same.

[andyblackman777]

Thanks Steve

[andyblackman777]

I can confirm that these parts fit. I have the old iron Bell housing pre MY98 and the alloy one for a post MY98. Also the flange is at the same angle.

As for the clutch fork pivot. The older ball end one does not fit. The base of the pivot goes in an approx 10mm round hole with a shoulder in the casing to match a flat on the pivot. The newer alloy bell housing has a slot for the square end newer pivot and a clearance hole for the M8 bolt.

However the base of the slot is at the same distance from the bell housing mounting face as similar part on the older iron bell housing. Therefore the newer bell housing could be drilled to accommodate the old pivot or the old pivot could be cut to fit the newer bell housing. Pics to follow

Any thoughts?

[andyblackman777]