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Cracked the bellhousing on a brand new th350 while installing?

scooter122983

scooter122983

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Pretty much sums it up, we were bolting it in then we heard a loud crack and then we could see the torque converter. My question is, I have the old tranny can i just take the guts out of the new tranny and reinstall them into the old tranny (after cleaning and recleaning and recleaning the old case)? If so what should I look for anything in particular during this process, should I not do this? What is everyone's opinion on doing this.:angry1:
 
I was bolting on the pass side heard a crack and next thing i know there was a the san andres fault on the drivers side.
 
I cracked a housing on one that had just a few miles on it, took the cracked one and a old one and had the tranny shop switch out the parts. Not sure if I would do it myself.
 
sounds like the convertor wasnt all the way on the hub. or the dowel pin wasnt in the hole, or there was a dowel pin stuck in the trans.

my guess is the convertor wasnt in all the way
 
For the record i don't care how this happened all i care about is if this idea of rebuilding the old case with the new guts is even feasable.
 
scooter122983 said:
For the record i don't care how this happened all i care about is if this idea of rebuilding the old case with the new guts is even feasable.
Click to expand...

If the torque converter wasn't in all the way you could have messed the pump up. I would make sure you check and see what the cause of the crack was. If the pump is junk putting everything in the other case wont matter....
 
You might be able to have the crack welded as well, but listen to the guys that are telling you to figure out WHY IT cracked our you'll spending more money,
 
scooter122983 said:
For the record i don't care how this happened all i care about is if this idea of rebuilding the old case with the new guts is even feasable.
Click to expand...
You should care a little bit, don`t want that to happen twice.

And my guess is the convertor wasn`t in all the way...I`ve done it on a new Ford van way back in 1988.:doah:
 
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scooter122983 said:
For the record i don't care how this happened all i care about is if this idea of rebuilding the old case with the new guts is even feasable.
Click to expand...

It is ALWAYS a good idea to know WHY something happened (to prevent the same failure again). Like 1BEATK5 said i'll bet the convertor wasn't seated properly and that will bind up and crack a bellhousing in nothing flat AND ruin the trans pump and possibly the convertor as well.

Your thoughts and swapping the guts to the old case isn't a problem as long as you have any of the special needed tools to remove a couple of the snap rings.
 
Without being able to see the crack, this is just a guess.

But, I would find out what happened to see if anything else was damaged. Then, if everything else is OK, I would find an old block to bolt it to and have a good welder fix the crack.
MIG, or TIG.

I would not weld it by its self unless the crack is unique enough to ensure alignment.
Bolting it it up first will tend to make sure its aligned.

If the pump, and/or converter is damaged, a swap might be the best idea.
 
You need to check the pump. Absolutely is a must.

If you messed up the pump and put it all back in just switching everything, you will be pulling this one out in short order.
 
To swap the cases you will need to make a clutch spring compressor and you will need to figure out a bushing driver for the case bushing, I use a cam bearing tool or leaf spring bushing. You will also need a new case bushing.

You will also need to assemble the new case and check endplay, then adjust the pump washer and/or shims and possibly shim the back of the case too.

Personally, I would buy a HD bellhousing and cut off the casting. They bolt to the pump.
 
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