Help IDing this bellhousing.

toy264 · Apr 18, 2011

When I got my bell housing separated from the ZF and cleaned up, I noticed these casting IDs. It got me wondering what the "HDA" logo represented and if the 7-5307 was a road car part number. Anyone know?

jimbo · Apr 19, 2011

That's a nice piece of work. Is that an original GT40 bellhousing, for the small multi-plate clutch? Not exactly a common item, is it.

Mark IV · Apr 19, 2011

The "HDA" is a casting mark from the vendor. I don't have my GT40 parts list handy so I can't tell on the other number. Casting marks are routinely added by the vendor to I.D. parts they make. In the world of Ford where production parts might have two or three suppliers, this allows them to identify the vendor and route any warranty claims to the correct supplier. Probably was not an issue with the GT40s..................................

toy264 · Apr 19, 2011

jimbo said:
That's a nice piece of work. Is that an original GT40 bellhousing, for the small multi-plate clutch? Not exactly a common item, is it.

The clutch is a two disc unit, but I have no idea if they were in wide use then or not- I posted a question about it some time ago- here's the thread http://www.gt40s.com/forum/gt40-tech-powertrain-transaxles/22484-vintage-clutch-questions.html

Since then, I read over this old clipping that says Tony Kitchiner bought the engine/transaxle that later ended up in the Lotus from J.W. Automotive (John Wyer and John Willment) in the late '60s. I think they were ending their work on Mark I cars at about that time, so maybe my drivetrain was a left over(?) I was hoping the casting numbers might be a clue. I have a friend in Germany who's trying to get the historic dept. at ZF to trace the transaxle serial number, but no word yet.
This is the clip, and the back end does bear a resemblance to the Mark I.

Jay Cushman · Apr 21, 2011

thats an original MK1 bellhousing as used on street and race cars with large double disc or 7.25" triple disc clutches. Somebody has replaced the hard to find rubber bushings with homemade solid aluminum sleeves.

sefac · Apr 21, 2011

HDA may well be

<button class="vspib"></button>High Duty Alloys Redditch, corporate profile and product articles. ... High Duty Alloys. Windsor Road, Redditch, Worcestershire B97 6EF .

JIMMYMAC · Apr 21, 2011

sefac said:
HDA may well be

<button class="vspib"></button>High Duty Alloys Redditch, corporate profile and product articles. ... High Duty Alloys. Windsor Road, Redditch, Worcestershire B97 6EF .

Only forgings were made at Redditch.
The castings were done at Slough, close to the FAV workshops.

jimbo · Apr 21, 2011

Very cool. Now if I had had something like that available, I might very well have had a multi-plate clutch in 1149.....

toy264 · Apr 21, 2011

Jay Cushman said:
thats an original MK1 bellhousing as used on street and race cars with large double disc or 7.25" triple disc clutches. Somebody has replaced the hard to find rubber bushings with homemade solid aluminum sleeves.

Jay-
Thank you for the info. Yes, the bottom mounting points have aluminum bushings pressed in. It could have been done for rigidity since the engine is also bolted directly to the frame, as are the upper two mounting bosses on the transaxle.
Barrya and James-
High Duty Alloys has got to be the company- a little Googling turns up that they produced pistons and aluminum parts for Rolls-Royce during the war, so a high strength cast aluminum bellhousing would have been a natural for them. Thanks for the tip.

James said:
Only forgings were made at Redditch.
The castings were done at Slough, close to the FAV workshops.

James, you remind me of one of those appraisers on Antiques Roadshow!

SwiftDB4 · Apr 22, 2011

toy264 said:
The clutch is a two disc unit, but I have no idea if they were in wide use then or not- I posted a question about it some time ago- here's the thread http://www.gt40s.com/forum/gt40-tech-powertrain-transaxles/22484-vintage-clutch-questions.html

Since then, I read over this old clipping that says Tony Kitchiner bought the engine/transaxle that later ended up in the Lotus from J.W. Automotive (John Wyer and John Willment) in the late '60s. I think they were ending their work on Mark I cars at about that time, so maybe my drivetrain was a left over(?) I was hoping the casting numbers might be a clue. I have a friend in Germany who's trying to get the historic dept. at ZF to trace the transaxle serial number, but no word yet.
This is the clip, and the back end does bear a resemblance to the Mark I.

From your avatar John you're obviously familiar with Lotus 47's. You're probably aware that Tony K. also took a Ford V8 and ZF from one of his F5000's and transplanted it into a Lotus Europa. Wonder what ever happened to that Lotus?

576103 · Apr 22, 2011

SwiftDB4 said:
From your avatar John you're obviously familiar with Lotus 47's. You're probably aware that Tony K. also took a Ford V8 and ZF from one of his F5000's and transplanted it into a Lotus Europa. Wonder what ever happened to that Lotus?

...wait for it....

toy264 · Apr 22, 2011

Mike Drew said:
...wait for it....

...2...3... :lipsrsealed:

Help IDing this bellhousing.

John Fitzpatrick

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Jim Rosenthal

Rick Muck- Mark IV

John Fitzpatrick

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Jay Cushman

Barrya

JimmyMac

Jim Rosenthal

John Fitzpatrick

DaveM

Mike Drew

John Fitzpatrick

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