I just noticed a crack in my bellhousing, it's a cast iron one on a type 9 sierra box, going from between two bolt holes (engine end) half way to the gearbox end.

will it still be usable?

I'll take a picture later and post it later.

How did that happen? It’s pretty hefty stuff.

Have you got the bottom brace bar fitted between the engine and the bottom of the bellhousing? If not then it puts extra weight on the bolt holes which are off course only at the top half of the housing.

cheap and plentiful to replace and really not worth the risk of it breaking in service. Speedily rotating clutches and propshafts need to be kept securely in place or will do a lot of damage to the car and more importantly to you.

For what it will cost to replace I wouldnt mess about. Link




He has sold a few at that price. I live near him and have bought bits so can recomend him.

yes if it is not in the car and at the price i would replace it now before it goes in as, it will be pain if it needs to come out and be replaced.
my 2 cents worth

stuart

Not sure how it cracked, I haven't put it into the car yet, it must have been like that when I bought it from the scrapyard.

I'm in Ireland so the postage would cost a fortune.

and they are not that plentyful in the scrap yards in Ireland.

I have a box from a TD Sierra that I was goint to use but I think that the clutch might be a bit of a nightmare as the bell housing is about 1.5-2" longer than the other one.

The bottom brace bar????

I haven't heard of this before.

Now's the time to get Burtons to send you an ally one

No way I'd use it

I may drill a hole in the end of the crack (if i can find it) and put it in for the moment.

I don't fancy spending spending £235 (+postage to Ireland) from Burton.

They are only £129+vat at Rally Design, a bargain really for a brand new one.

I have a cast iron one you could gladly have, but shipping would probably be silly as it's ridiculously heavy.

You could get your existing casting welded up, but I haven't got a clue how much that would cost.