As some of you know I’m in the midst of an auto to manual transmission conversion (among other things) on my 72 XJ6.
I’m this close to putting the drivetrain in the car and I find that the bellhousing I have is not drilled for the Ring Dowels that hold the Starter Motor Spigot Plate in position on a normal 4.2 Bellhousing!!!
Does that mean that this damn bellhousing is for a 2.8 and not a 4.2 as the person who sold it to me said it was? My Flywheel is definitely 4.2 so If that is the case I’m screwed until I find another bellhousing. Help!
Hi Tony - No, 2.8’s use old fashioned inertia starters with less teeth - won’t mesh with a 4.2 ring gear right. If this thing is in fact from a 2.8 my alternative would be a 2.8 flywheel or replace the bellhousing with 4.2. 2.8’s are next to non-existent in the US and I’ve never seen one in real life let alone a 2.8’s bellhousing. Googling for images has no useful results.
My gut feeling is that this is from a 2.8 because it has the right size large hole for the gearbox so it is definitely not from a 3.8/3-synchro box. I checked this when I got it but I didn’t really think about the possibility of it being from a 2.8 or the starter difference cause like I said - no 2.8’s around here. Plus I got it from an extremely reputable source.
From my research it seems that all 4.2’s have pre-engaged starters that use that plate and locating dowels. I’m not completely certain of this so I’m hoping someone out there who knows the difference between a 2.8 and a 4.2 bellhousing can confirm. I’m expecting the worst.
If it’s out of the car I’d love to see if the holes where the starter mounts on the bellhousing has the countersunk area that a 4.2 has.
I have another manual bellhousing from my other transmission that I now believe is from a 2.8 also since it also lacks the counter-sunk area for the dowels. I know for a fact that it’s from a RHD XJ6 though because I also bought the RHD pedal box from the same guy.
I just spent the last hour combing over it with a magnifying glass and light - there are absolutely no part numbers on the thing. Just the company that made it (Dialoy) and the alloy formulation - LM24. This is the only cast aluminum Jag part I can remember without a part number cast into it somewhere.
Hi Tony - I’ve been googling bellhousings all night and I spoke to some E-Type guys (they are always having to figure out bellhousing stuff) and it definitely looks like I got either a 2.8 or 3.8 bell. Both of them use a different flywheel and that inertia bendix starter so either way it can’t work easily.
There are starters available that will bolt up to this but the only one I found was $650 + shipping form the UK which is too much at this point.
Think I gotta start looking for a decent 4.2 bell. No need for any more pics. Thanks anyway!
Well it is definitely the cheapest option but there are starters that are made for this conversion taking into account the gear pitch, lack of spigot plate etc… One of the E-type guys told me about it. Here’s the link:
Like I said though, $650 USD plus shipping that heavy thing ain’t happening. Also I don’t like the idea of having some kind of super-expensive custom starter. If it fails at some point you’d be stuck getting another $650 starter. No - 4.2 bellhousing is definitely the answer.
