Bellhousing

[cwmcobra]

I'm seeing pictures with the bellhousings painted engine color.  That would imply to me that the bellhousings were either assembled to the engines before the assembly was painted or that the bellhousings were painted engine color before assembly to the engines.  Is this correct?   

And....if the engine and bellhousing were assembled before painting, the fasteners will be painted also.  And if they were painted and assembled separately, the fasteners will be unpainted, probably oil phosphated.  Or am I way off??

Thanks!

Chuck

[WkillGS]

The 3 I have didn't have any engine paint on them at all. I powdercoated them with Eastwood's 'cast iron' powder.

[cwmcobra]

Thanks Walt.  That makes perfect sense to me.  But I saw that Dan's and Mark's cars have the bellhousings painted, so assumed I was wrong.  I wonder if the process varied by plant?  My car was built in Flint; where were yours built?  Before I had by bellhousing blasted, it was kind of a machine gray color.  But it is not original to the car.  The car was built with an automatic and the 4-speed was swapped out later.  Picture below.

Mark, Dan....any comments?  If I'm not mistaken, I believe your cars were not built in Flint.

Chuck

[Loren At 65GS]

It's been a long time since I've had a manual car, but I have to go with Walt on this one. I don't remember any paint on the those.  As a side, I've never seen any paint on an automatic transmission either.
So, that makes me think that the engine was painted prior to the transmission being mated to it.  Just my thoughts.

 Loren

[GS66]

My 66's were not painted, not sure it that was correct or not though and if 65 was different.

[Brian]

Mine had green engine paint on it and I have come across several others that had green engine paint on them too.  Never seen one with red 66 paint on it though. 

[jmos4]

Hi,

I've had one 65 that is green, and 2 66's that were red.  The 65 looked untouched, the 2 66's I got from evil-bay so not sure they may have been paint from the factory, wouldn't think they would change how they painted engines between model years.

I have heard stories about dealers having stacks of bellhousings in the service departments for people converting cars back then, guessing they would have been raw cast iron

Regards,

[cwmcobra]

I had planned to paint mine cast blast assuming it was bolted on in the raw after the engine had been painted.  But now I'm not sure.  I'll wait to hear from Dan and Mark before I proceed.

Thanks again!

Chuck

[Brian]

It might be a few days before you hear from Mark--he is vacationing out west this week.

[dsags]

I had planned to paint mine cast blast assuming it was bolted on in the raw after the engine had been painted.  But now I'm not sure.  I'll wait to hear from Dan and Mark before I proceed.

Chuck

Have nothing definitive to add. Both of the four speeds I have owned had been worked on before my ownership. The convertible's bell housing had significant overspray as if it had been bolted to the engine when it was painted. Was my decision to paint the whole bell housing however.

[schlepcar]

I had two 65 bellhousings,one came with my project and the other came from sodak65  from an original car. Neither of them had any traces of any color. I believe these were just raw cast iron bolted to the motor,but the reason I painted mine cast was just to preserve the no rust look. My project is a Flint built car and I do not think it was ever painted.The same could be said of the sway bar,steering shaft,steering box....even the four speed trans.

[bobbybuick]

I owned a 65 in 1974 didnt have paint and mine now had 40K on it setting since 79 no paint on it either

[schlepcar]

I think I still have a pic of your frame back when I bought the radiator from you. I liked the idea of the new cast paint because it seemed to look as legit as anything. Even if it was just blasted and cleared it would look too light compared to new cast iron.