!954 chevy 235 from a 3100 truck. Fully rebuilt, not yet installed. It came with flywheel and clutch but no bell housing. I sourced a 51 bellhousing from Old Car Parts in Oregon. Tried to install the new cluch disk with original pressure plate yesterday and it doesn't fit inside the bell housing. It hits at the top. Any thoughts about this? Was the truck bellhousing larger inside? Is there a smaller diameter flywheel I can look for that will bolt to this 235? All information appreciated. And no, I can not put the top bolt in first, it's too far up under the housing to reach. Even if I could, the pressure plate will not compress enough to clear. Thanks.
Can't help without pictures. We can tell you that all that Chevy 6 stuff will bolt together if you have the right combination ...
The trucks had bigger clutches, so it would not surprise me if the car bellhousing is smaller inside. I don't know for sure, though. Is it a diaphragm clutch? The flywheels are all the same size. There is a difference between 6v and 12v (54 and older, and 55 and newer, starter has to match the flywheel) with the ring gear, but that's the only difference I know of, and I think folks run 12v flywheels in the 6v bellhousings without any trouble.
Yes, diaphragm clutch. Will post pics later today. Did the cars come with a smaller diameter flywheel? I have a second pressure plate that may have come from a tri-5 chevy, it's about an inch smaller diameter than the one that came on the motor.
Now I think about it, I have the starter that came out of the car and the engine has a 51 car bellhousing on it, so, if the flywheel is different (larger) than the car, the starter shouldn't fit, correct? I'll try to test fit the starter this morning and see how that goes as well/
Just found this in Stovebolt forums: "The 235 flywheel is slightly larger and has more teeth than the 216 flywheel. It also uses a larger clutch. The easiest thing to do here is to use the flywheel, clutch, and starter from your 216. There are a few different 216 flywheels, with different size crankshaft bolts and a slightly different center hole diameter." It seems I likely have a 54 235 with the larger flywheel and clutch and a bellhousing off a 51 216 and the two don't go together. Does that sound about right?
The 54 flywheel overall diameter would be the same as the 51, as far as I know. The starter changed when they went to 12v in 1955. The 6v starter has a larger drive gear with coarse teeth, the 12v starter has a smaller drive gear with fine teeth. The flywheel and ring gear was changed to work with the new starter gear. Use a 6v starter with a 6v flywheel, and a 12v starter with a 12v flywheel. Each of these combinations fits any of the bellhousings. But there were also different clutch sizes, and different pressure plates, and I think different pressure plate bolt patterns. Do you know if your starter and flywheel are the 6v version or the 12v version? Pictures help.
cars were 9 inch clutch and trucks have 10 1/2 inch clutches. also have bigger center hole in bellhousing for transmission.
Solved! A guy called about my 216 motor that I had on Craigslist, motor was gone but still had the trans and shifter/linkage, so we got to talking and turns out he has a bunch of old 216 parts on shelves. Sort of stocks up when he can because, well, better to have it and not need it than otherwise. I took the trans and gear down and donated it to his storage and we went through a stack of flywheels and pressure plates he had on the shelves. The 216 flywheel is the same size as the 235, but, it has a set of smaller diameter holes drilled to accommodate the smaller pressure plate for the car. I'll take some pics tomorrow before I drop the stuff off at Action Machine for clean up. Since it's an original 216 car flywheel I am assuming my original 216 6v starter will work. Need to order a 9in 14 spline disk and I should be all set. 14 spline to fit the T5 trans shaft.
chevy astro van clutch disk. that what i used in the past. https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/...71381/1988/chevrolet/astro?q=clutch+set&pos=0
Almost impossible to find the Astrovan disk by it's self. I got one of the last ones from Rock Auto several years ago. Now that you went to all the trouble of changing the flywheel and bellhousing, you do realize that the S-10 5 speed won't bolt up to the pre 55 car bell housing without an adapter? The trans bolt pattern on pre 55 Chevy cars is a smaller pattern. You will need this S-10 T-5 to 40 to 54 Chevy adapter https://www.hotrodworks.com/product/1940-1954-chevrolet-t5-transmission-adapter/
I've been to all the auto parts stores and find it impossible to buy just the disk, only clutch kits. Speedway sells just the disk in the right sizes for under a hundred. Yes, the T5 will not bolt directly to the earlier bellhousing and with the later housing you have to trim the shaft and the sleeve. I already have the adaptor plate and T5 crossmember from HotRodWorks in Idaho. In Arlington WA there's a guy with company name Buffalo Engineering. He's been around forever and knows about all there is to know about this stuff. His take on the truck bellhousing is that the clutch fork opening will not work with a car linkage, the angle is wrong and it binds or some such. In any event, I have the 51 housing, what appears to be the correct flywheel/clutch combo and the adapter. I'll test fit everything today before dropping the wheel and plate at the machine shop. Pictures to come. Thanks for all the advice people, any other experience you all have that could be helpful, please don't hesitate to share.
Originals on the left, new ones on the right. Test fit the new ones and straight in, no problem so now they're at the machine shop getting cleaned up.
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