427 Bigblock and ZF - which bellhousing ?

[John W]

Hi all,

I need to get my flywheel & bellhousing sorted out asap, and have run into a bit of a problem.
I'm using a side oiler mated to a flipped -2 ZF.
The first question is, what depth of bellhousing do I need ?
It seems they can be either 4", 4.25" (I think this is simply a thick sandwich plate), or 5".

What I am keen to ensure is that the driveshafts are correctly aligned fore/aft.
I guess another approach would be to compare the distance from bellhousing flange to driveshaft centreline of a T44 and a ZF, but I can't find the dimensions for the T44.

Can anyone help please ?
I need this to enable the engine to be dyno'd.
I thought all I needed was the kennedy bellhousing which is 4", but now I'm not so sure, so thought I'd ask you clever lot :thumbsup:

Second question, any recommendations as to flywheel weight and clutch to use. I know a lot of the original mk1s use twin plate AP jobs, but I'm not sure they will fit (too long). What do the Pantera guys runnning 427s use ?
Also while i'm asking, what weight of flywheel : 15lb / 20lb / 25lb / 30lb / 35lb / 40lb ?

The car will be road reg'd, but used 50/50 for track too.

Many thanks,
John.

 

[MReid]

How about this one:

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View a 3D Rendering of this part.
RM-6058 - Big Block Ford to ZF transaxle - NEW!

• Height = 5.00"
• Trans. Bore Ø = 10.875"
• Engine = Ford 352/390/427/428
• Trans. = ZF transaxle
• Clutch = 12"
• Flywheel = 184 tooth
• Weight = 20#
• Has passed all SFI testing
• Full engine plate and grade 8 bolts included

Found here: Quick Time Performance Products

The 184 tooth flywheel should be balanced to your rotating assembly.

Of course all of this could be irrelevant if you can locate a cast aluminum one locally.

 

[Steve C]

John,

The Quicktime Mark posted above looks like the bellhousing Olthoff used on my FE to ZF install....Nice piece.

Steve

 

[John W]

Thanks guys.
Mark, I had seen this, which is partly why I was questioning the depth as this is 5", not the 4" that Kennedy supply...

Steve, I assume your FE in the SPF is mounted on the original style mounts, right ?
Any pictures of the drive shaft alignments at all ?
Also, any ideas on the flywheel / clutch in your install.
That would be most helpful for me to determine its what I'm trying to achieve.
I've sent you a pm.

The 427 FE is neutral balanced, so what I'm asking about is overall weight of the flywheel, not its balanced weight. The flywheels come in a variety of weights as I've posted, but which to use and why ?
I can't source a flywheel locally unfortunately, FE stuff in the UK is very sparse. Besides, the exchange rate is favourable at present
I assume a lighter one means the engine will spin up quicker, but will it be prone to stalling ?

Cheers,
John.

 

[Mike Drew]

The 427 FE is neutral balanced, so what I'm asking about is overall weight of the flywheel, not its balanced weight. The flywheels come in a variety of weights as I've posted, but which to use and why ?
I can't source a flywheel locally unfortunately, FE stuff in the UK is very sparse. Besides, the exchange rate is favourable at present
I assume a lighter one means the engine will spin up quicker, but will it be prone to stalling ?

It all depends on what kind of car you're putting it into. Think of the flywheel as a rotational energy storage device. If you have a big job to do (getting a 4000+ pound sedan underway from a rest), you need a lot of stored energy to be able to get the job done smoothly. On the other hand, with a 2000-ish pound car, that requirement is much lower and so you can get away with a much lighter flywheel without any penalties.

I have a Hayes aluminum flywheel in my 427 Cobra replica, powered by a 569 hp 427 with 610 ft/lbs of torque. The car weighs 2250 lbs. I notice the flywheel by virtue of the fact that the motor zings when you blip the throttle.

(Actually, I should qualify that. When I first got it, it felt like it had a 500 lb flywheel, it was very lazy in terms of throttle response. The problem was that it had a stock Cobra bottom end with the Ford steel crank (great) and much-vaunted "Le Mans" rods (not great). The Ford Le Mans rods were thought to be stronger than the standard rods (true), but this came at a great cost--they are huge and heavy as hell, and so the overall weight of the reciprocating assembly was through the roof. Switching to modern lightweight (but strong) I-beam rods made all the difference).

Anyway, with respect to a side-oiler in a GT40--you can get away with murder in the flywheel department because the car is so light. My Cobra drives 'normally' in that I don't have to feather the throttle or slip the clutch mercilessly to get the car underway. In fact I can trundle along at 900 rpm in 4th gear, dip my toe in the throttle and the car will pull away smartly, and smoothly.

I have no experience with the small flywheels that GT40s originally used, but if you are using a full-size clutch and flywheel, any off-the-shelf version will probably suit you fine.

 

[John W]

Thanks Mike, most helpful.

I've gone with a standard crank but lightweight rods and pistons, so think I'll go middle of the road for the flywheel.

Just need to get this bellhousing ordered now.

Cheers,
John.