Bell Housing Restoration

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Late '31
Posts: 93
Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2011 7:43 pm

Bell Housing Restoration

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Bell Housing Restoration
Model A Ford bell housings are often found with a worn out pedal shaft, clutch release shaft, housing bushings, and with worn out bushings in the pedals. Bell housings are also usually covered with grease, rust, and crud.
The first effort after the bell housing is on the work bench with pedals removed and separated from the transmission is to completely disassemble it. Depending on the condition of the bell housing the task can be easy or very difficult.
Remove the throw-out bearing inspection plate. Remove the long pin that captures the heads of the two bolts associated with the front radius rod. The pin also captures the felt block used to contain oil drips and to lubricate the radius ball. The long pin is removed by taking out the small cotter pin and then pulling it out.
Remove the yoke on the clutch release shaft that pushes on the throw-out bearing. This is done by using a suitable punch to drive out the locking pin. The pin is driven out from the bottom of the yoke. Once the pin is out, work the yoke over toward the side of the shaft opposite the operating lever. This is where you might have difficulty. If the shaft is rusted and full of crud you will have to clean it sufficiently to get the yoke to slide on the shaft. Remove the entire shaft by pulling on the operating lever. You may have to use a punch to drive the shaft out and free it from the yoke.
Beware, there is an early and late version of the clutch release shaft, operating lever, and yoke. The early ones use a 3/16" locking pin and have a woodruff key in both the operating lever and the yoke that correspond to slots cut into both places on the release shaft. The later ones did not use the woodruff key method and had a 5/16" locking pin. Reproduction shafts and locking pins of both versions are available from Bratton's.
There is a Ford service bulletin that addresses the change.
The operating lever will also have to be removed from the end of the old clutch release shaft by driving out the locking pin and driving or pressing the lever off.
Once the clutch release shaft assembly has been removed from the bell housing, remove the two bushings. A stepped tool for removing and inserting bushings is the most desirable method. The tool is inserted into the bushing and driven out with a hammer. If one is not available, an alternate method is to split each bushing with a hack saw blade. Hammer or grind a common nail to a chisel point and tap it down alongside the split. Grip the protruding bushing with a pair of long nose pliers and curl it out. The pedal bushings in the two pedals are the same part number as the two in the bell housing and can be removed in the same manner.
The last task in the disassembly process is to remove the pedal shaft, and this is not always easy. The pin that locks the shaft into place in the bell housing also comes in two versions.
The earlier ones have a domed head, were driven in from the top, and had the end inside the bell housing mushroomed over.
The later version had a soft tapered pin also driven in from the top. The tapered pins are fairly easy to get out. Both have to be driven out from the inside with a suitable punch. Before you can drive out the early ones with the dome-shaped head, you have to grind the mushroom off the end of the pin inside the bell housing. Use a small pneumatic grinder to do the job.
When the pin has been removed, the pedal shaft can be driven out from the inside with a long punch held at an angle, sometimes! Some pedal shafts are in there very tight and are difficult to get out. For the difficult ones use a tool that bolts to the transmission mounting holes. A large bolt is then turned and it forces the shaft out. An alternate method is to saw the shaft off close to the outside of the bell housing and drive out the remaining length toward the inside with a punch.
With the bell housing completely disassembled. a massive clean up project is the next task. After de-greasing, bead blast them inside and out and paint the exterior with Ford green paint.
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