Yep - Boyd Coddington rides again! So it was yet another re-run of that show. However, I noted something of interest.

They were renovating/re-engineering an old Corvette, and the young lady who took responsibility for the engine/g-box had requested some help. I noted as the unit was being manoeuvred into position, that the bell-housing was formed from sheet steel.

Is this an American style item? Are such parts regularly produced this way? And is anybody making similar items in UK?

i noticed that as well,looked like 3mm max?,how well would that cope with the "1000 bhp" they expected the engine to produce?

A mate of mine had a Chevrolet Montecarlo, it 5.0l V8 had a claimed bhp of a massive 136.

It seems that 27.2bhp per litre is acceptable out there, a tinfoil bellhousing would probably cope

The bell housing you saw was typical welded up" Blast Shield" required for drag racing in higher performance classes required to keep the clutch and flywheel insde the bellhousing when an explosion occurs.

It goes along with the required driveshaft hoops that that retains the driveshaft in case of failure, bike motored locosts require should also have one for the front universal.

The other type of flywheel and clutch protection is a kevlar blanket which wraps around the bell housing.

Ah... American Hotrod! I used to love watching those programmes... again... and again... and again!

Now that (or American Chopper) would have been my dream job (assuming either had a need for a non-skilled, rubbish-spined and temporarily blinded gimp!).

The press formed bell housings are available freely for most yank engines. Not welded either.

I saw them for Duratec to T5 somewhere? Maybe one of the midget sites, maybe not?

And there's a gent here in UK who makes them out of kevlar, specifically for drag racers.

Cheers,
Nev.

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Originally posted by scootz
Ah... American Hotrod! I used to love watching those programmes... again... and again... and again!

Now that (or American Chopper) would have been my dream job (assuming either had a need for a non-skilled, rubbish-spined and temporarily blinded gimp!).

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