Bell housing for 258

[AZ75CJ5]

Having an issue finding bell housing for my AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l , T-176 and wondering if there are any other ones that will fit. Someone told me that T-15 will work also. Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[AZ75CJ5]

I have been told by two diff people. One says is T-150 and another says T-178.

 

[hole]

T-150 , T-176 /177, T-18 are all the same. T-4 /5 can be drilled and tapped to work

 

[Hedgehog]

You have a pretty good jeep salvage yard up in Phoenix, can't remember their name. I'm fairly sure Willys Works down here in Tucson will have one as well.

You can have your bell housing welded up, cracks are not uncommon. The area around the fork can be built up and file to fit, tolerances in that area aren't very tight. The bottom of your bell housing is often cracked, it's thin and just there to keep dirt out. Mine was cracked so I welded it myself with a special aluminum rod for stick welding. Now that was a trip, weld at superman speeds and it does alright, slow down and you have a mess. Luckily I'd seen a video and was lighting quick on the first pass.

Tell us more about your driveline problem. Mine isn't exactly lined up (right to left on the body) that is relatively normal. It seems wrong, but make sure the output shaft and the input (yoke) angle are roughly parallel. Yes I know it’s tempting to wedge your axle, if you do that you’ll need to drop your transfer case to match. Why? It was explained to me that universal joints tend to speed up and slow down as they do their thing. Both ends having equal angles tend to cancel out adverse the effects. Others might disagree, but I’ve heard the same from a few experts that I trust, so “That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.”

 

[AZ75CJ5]

Was told that the angle from drive line into axle is off and extremely dangerous. I dont remember the term my buddy used but said have from Transfer Case to drive line should be straight and its not. said angle should be at 12 degrees and its off. I'll take a pic tonight and post it.

 

[AZ75CJ5]

I think you might be thinking of AMC, they dont have bell one.

 

[Hedgehog]

Universal Joints are made o work on an angle and they don't really care if the angle is in the horizontal or vertical plain. If the angle is to extreme it will let you know, for example a vibration or excess noise, they will deffinately wear out faster. CJ5 's are always in a little trouble when it comes to driveshaft issues.

Are you sure it's a 176? In 1974 the stock Transmission would be a T-14 .

Call Willys Works and I'm sure Rob can help you in one way or another. 520-888-5082

 

[AZ75CJ5]

I was under the impression was a T-150 , but my friend said was a T-178. So, to be honest, i dont know what the Transmission is. The guy that looked at drive line was like, dont even drive it anywhere, which really concerned me. I'll upload pics in about 3 hours.

 

[Hedgehog]

Sounds like a rather extreme reaction to me.

In '72-'75 three transmisions were available. T-15 was behind the V8 .... T-14 was behind the I-6 .... The T-18 was available as an ungrade to all.

I'm not sure what was available '76-'79 .... I know the T-150 and the T-18 were in the V8's

The 176 didn't come along until the '80's along with the SR4 , T-4 and T-5 . It wouldn't surprise me to see a 176 upgrade in your CJ.

 

[AZ75CJ5]

Haha.. yeah I'm at a loss what the heck tranny is in there. I'm thinking I'm just gonna pull it off, look at the holes and then purchase one. Don't wanna purchase wrong bell housing then have to reorder a new one. What would you do?

 

[hole]

OP, have you driven this CJ yet? A T-150 is a 3sp and a T-176 is a 4 sp.

 

[Hedgehog]

And a T-14 is a 3 speed as well.

I'd pull it, completely clean it, hit it with a wrench the bell housing should ring like a bell and inspect for damage,.... Fix or replace if necessary ..... then from painful experience I'd ..... bore out all threaded holes and either use helicoils or use one of those thread insert kits to replace the aluminum threads with steel threads. .... check all seals

I'd replace the clutch (disk, pressure plate, throw out bearing), resurface the flywheel, change the pilot bushing, do the fork repair thing.

Sounds like a lot, but most is done in seconds, the rest will make you feel better down the road.

 

[AZ75CJ5]

Yeah, p/o (step dad) just replaced the clutch and pressure plate. I think he just tried to rig up the fork to make it work but didnt do it correctly. So now I gotta go back in there and replace bell housing. But redoing holes does sound like a good idea, didnt even think about that.

 

[AZ75CJ5]

Two of driveline and one of bell housing.

 

[Hedgehog]

Yeah I found 2/3 of them were stripped with just slightly larger metric bolts in them. What a mess. And even being careful replacing the starter I either stripped or finished stripping the threaded starter bolt threads ..... ERrrrrrrrrrrr ..... I actually refuse to believe I did it completely because I hand started every bolt and the thread let go juuuusssstt as I was ready to call it good.

Your clutch might be fine. With your clutch problems it could have been iffy. It is actually good that you've got the PO to talk with, there can be a wealth of information right there.

Edit: Pictures, oh my goodness that is a lot of wedge and it definitely needs to be removed. Remember make the input and output shafts parallel. Then there would be the amount of oil needed to keep things lubricated. I can't see them, but were the perches cut off and new ones welded on for the spring over axle (SOA) lift? Did the PO do this? If you can ask him why.
It also looks like the opening was intentionally nibbled away with pliers.

 

[AZ75CJ5]

Yeah the guy my step dad got it from the SOA. I gave the slightest clue why he did that. Which leaves much more work for me to fix it. Haha. I don't get why they did that to the opening either. Maybe tried to fix the fork without pulling tranny back, again leaving more work for me. I have learned in my life, do something right the first time or gonna have to do it all over again, lesson po still learning I guess. Lol.

 

[AZ75CJ5]

Take a look at the shackles too. Idk what he was thinking.

How do I figure out exactly what the tranny is? Thanks again buddy, I feel like I owe you a 12 pack or something. Lol

 

[AZ75CJ5]

Other pic didn't attach.

 

[Hedgehog]

OMG collapsed home made shackles too. This just keeps getting better and better. I'm afraid a cutting wheel and a welder is in your near future. What does the front look like? Also, with the gap between the axle tubes and the U bolts your axles aren't tight at all. You might be better off returning your springs to their original position. Start off by getting a set of replacement perches. Then place them in their proper position and weld on the tubes. With the collapsed shackles you'd end up about the same height in the end.

I've got a nice set of ~6" shackles you can have if you want'em.

 

[hole]

AZ75CJ5, take a few pics of the Transmission and Transfer Case . Also snap one if the shifter from the top side, the shape of that can help tell what Transmission you have too. I now see why you were told not to drive your Jeep. Also, post up some pics of the front end too. With all thats wrong at the rear it will be interesting to see how they set up the front end.