Flywheel housing mod

Ordsgt

Ordsgt

Senior Member
I have been looking for a flywheel housing for some time. I fellow club member told me he had one that was from an engine that had been lying in a field. It was caked with crud and as I got the bottom cleaned out I found someone had put in an additional drain hole. The regular drain hole had already been enlarged but the hardened crud had clogged that hole and most of the large hole they had put in. It is always amazing to see what some people have done to these cars
 

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Ordsgt said:
I have been looking for a flywheel housing for some time. I fellow club member told me he had one that was from an engine that had been lying in a field. It was caked with crud and as I got the bottom cleaned out I found someone had put in an additional drain hole. The regular drain hole had already been enlarged but the hardened crud had clogged that hole and most of the large hole they had put in. It is always amazing to see what some people have done to these cars
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Someone may have put the larger hole in to retrieve the broken parts from an original type starter Bendix drive.

Inspect closely for cracks while you have it off.
 
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Also check to see if the mating surface to the engine is flat and parallel to the surface where the bell housing mates. If not, you can machine it.
 
That sure looks like a "fishing hole", I would leave it so if you ever crash a starter drive, it seems the fail at the worst time.
 
ModelA29 said:
Uncracked ones are becoming some of the rarest parts around. I found a cache of 6 - all were cracked.
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It's interesting that you're from SoCal because on the other forum I was claiming that crack-free housings are rare and a guy from CA said they were a dime a dozen where he was and selling for $20. They certainly seem to be rare around here.

I have two flywheel housings that have small repaired cracks. I'm hoping to get them checked/machined for parallel surfaces this week and will bring to MARC Asheville to sell.
 
My last engine the rebuild shop said mine had a crack, and he said they are available through the supply hoses. I told him to get me one.
 
Gene F said:
My last engine the rebuild shop said mine had a crack, and he said they are available through the supply hoses. I told him to get me one.
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Yep, $500 for new plus whatever his markup was. Makes it worth hunting for the good originals.
 
alexiskai said:
.... a guy from CA said they were a dime a dozen where he was and selling for $20. They certainly seem to be rare around here.
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When you find a good one at an estate sale it's $10-20. The swap meet guys will resell it for $40-50. The stack I found the guy was moving and offered them for free.
 
When I rebuilt my engine a few years back I noticed my flywheel hounsing had been repaired. I had a good used one so I swapped them.

Funny thing, I never noticed an issue with the repaired one. I saved it in my "Just in Case" stash.
 
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I would call Steve Becker at Bert’s Model A parts. If anybody has a good used one to sell at a reasonable price I would expect it to be Steve
 
When I had my engine rebuilt, my builder said mine was cracked. I bought one from Steve Becker, he even had it mag inspected just to make sure it too wasn't cracked.
 
They get cracked when someone jacks up the front of the engine without removing a bolt each side from the rear engine mount . This allows the engine to pivot without loading the flywheel housing . Changing the pulley etc etc .

John in Suffolk County England same changeable weather .
 
jeepguy1948 said:
I would call Steve Becker at Bert’s Model A parts. If anybody has a good used one to sell at a reasonable price I would expect it to be Steve
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Steve offered me a good used one a few months ago for $250. I found one locally, they're going for around $50 in the SF Bay Area.
 
Drain hole/retrieval hole not important after finding this. 2 cracks at bolt holes. The search continues
2Q==
 

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An old timer once told me that if you hold the housing with one hand and lightly tap it with a hammer, with no cracks, it will ring and with a crack it will make a dull sound. I did not make this up.
 
As Neil Kaminar posted the surface that goes against the engine block should be parallel and flat relative to the outer mounting flange. The end of the cam shaft does not have an oil seal. If the surface area on the flywheel housing that goes against the block is not flat the engine oil lubricating the camshaft can leak by the thin paper gasket that goes between the block and flywheel housing. If a leak occurs it will flow down the surface of the flywheel housing and look like the rear main bearing is leaking.
 
Hello, post 19 , that’s how we check grinder wheels in tool shop, should give a “ring” if not cracked .
 
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