Bell housing ?

[Mooboo]

Hi every one "
Now this has probely been talked about LOADS" my jeep April 1952
Original gear box (gear stick lid off ,on gasket flange 3/1952stamped)
When it came to me some nutter fitted 289/4.7litr it had a other conversion
input shaft, clutch,thrust bearing,and a Alloy Bellhouseing bolted to a Aloy Plate to take the t 90.i have since sold the tang motor to a guy in France to
fit in a GT 40 he is restoring, since then I have stripped down box new bearings, syncrose , seals etc etc and as I wasn't sure to which bell it should
have I have acquired a early non sealed , flywheel , starter , etc and allso
today in the post a late bell and correct fly wheel (correct amount of teeth)
Short nosed starter" so I have all the parts (I think ?) to go either way
My delema" is do I class my jeep as early or late , it has CBs 3 and one
behind dails" when did the so called Lates start (what month) my ser No is
62693 what I have seen so far in the Goveners files points me to last of the
earlys , so if any one can steer me in the right direction , pleases do , don't
Shoot me down in flames ? Please don't tell me to get Ryan's book
(I would love one ) but I live the other side of the Atlantic and post and
Customs bring it up to nearly £200 which is a all full lot of money when you need the cash to buy parts for the jeep , and be leave me this one is working
out way more costly than my 42 script GPW did , over here the dealers charge
Mega bucks for parts if you can find em, so let me know what you is thinking
on me bells cheers murray,

[wesk]

If the tranny box is stock M38 T90 then it bolts fine to either late or early bell housings. The parts that must match each other in your project are the Bell housing, adapter plate, flywheel and starter.

Early use, early bell housing, early adapter plate, 124 tooth flywheel and the MBP4301UT starter.

Late M38 use the late bell housing, late bell housing adapter plate, 129 tooth flywheel and the MCZ4001UT starter.

[Mooboo]

Hi and good morning "
I have both starters , plates and bells " I can go either way " but how do
you decide which to use " is my jeep on the early side as it has got CBs
Did the sealed bell come in after mine or before , I didn't have the correct
Bell as it came to me with a Alloy one to take the V eight ,
I understand all about the parts , I've been a mechanic for just over 40 years
Still earning my living at to this day " Historian ime not , I would however
like to fit the correct or near as correct one " this jeep came to me
Bubbafied , they had removed the front rad tube , battery tray , gassed the engine mounts along with the regulator bracket , changed the steering links
etc etc , I've put every thing back by the book (text book) and be leave me
it's not easy here in the Uk , m 38s are very thin on the ground over here
I can't just pop down the road and look at another for comparison ww2 jeeps
Yes the market has been flooded (common) did the early bell carry on in to
52 till stocks ran out then the seald variety come in to play etc

[4x4M38]

Look at the Ord 9 G740 chart Wes provided.
Looks like 74419 was the last M38 with the early parts.

That being said, if the power plant was rebuilt or other major work done it was possible an earlier unit ended up with a late bell, flywheel, plate and starter.

Unless you are building a factory unit you could use either setup, as long as all the parts matched.

Take care,

[Mooboo]

Thanks for that "
Going for early " and keep the late parts , didn't , hardly make out the
serial numbers on list " it's a bit of old tired eyes small screen etc
You guys realy know your jeeps " but ask me about land rovers different
ball game , that's old ones mind " thanks wes "Brian it's all thear if you only look"
Cheers till next time ,

[wesk]

Your jeep's serial is of no concern. The 74419 serial is an engine serial not a chassis serial. If you hold each bell housing up to the back of your block only one will match the bolt pattern on the back of your block. The difference is simple to see. The early block used 4 bell housing to block mount bolts and the late engine uses 10 bolts.





The army would routinely replace one engine with the other. So chassis serial is not that important unless you want to do a factory class resto with the correct engine in it. For that info all you needed to do was download our M38 Database.



Large file: http://willysmjeeps.com/v2/modules/gall ... ase_sm.jpg

[Mooboo]

That's settled then , I got four " so I got a spare 129 T fly wheel stub nose
starter and a later bell

[wesk]

Maybe it's the ocean separating us?

I got four

What does this mean?

I got a spare 129 T fly wheel stub nose
starter and a later bell

This is a bit strange as well. 129 Tooth flywheel and Later bell housing go together. But the correct late starter (MCZ4001UT) has the long enclosed nose. The stub nosed starter (MBP4301UT) is the early starter.

[Mooboo]

Morning "
I got that starter " we call stubby , I all so got the other 24. Volt with the
bearing support in the bell , i all so have the correct flywheel , I have got both applications , like I said I wasn't sure which way to go " till I was told"
I new thear were variants so I found both sets (application s) I have 2
Bellhouseings , 2 starters ,2 flywheels " I have four main bolts on the motor
to Bellhouseing so I have to use the non seald Bellhouseing flywheel starter ,
Correct?

[wesk]

That was my point. You are calling the long enclosed nose stubby where we call the short open nose stubby. At any rate I am asking if we can agree to use the nomenclatures or part numbers listed in the Parts Manual for the jeep? That keep all of us on the same page.

I have four main bolts on the motor
to Bell housing so I have to use the non sealed Bell housing flywheel starter ,
Correct?

Yes, the unsealed bell housing, the early adapter plate with the timing mark window, the 124 tooth flywheel and the MBP4301UT starter

Another issue is the crankshaft dowell bolt (pin) came in two flavors, Early Tapered and late straight. The problem is the straight became the standard replacement over the years. So a very large percentage of the early crankshafts were converted to the later straight dowell bolt (pin).