Wanted SBC bell housing for Jeep T176 transmission

[TurboMinivan]

My co-worker recently acquired an '82 CJ-5 with a T177 4-speed manual transmission. Its stock AMC 258 I6 has one foot in the grave, so he just scrounged up a Vortec 350 to install in its place. He is now on the hunt for the required bell housing to mate the engine to his trans.

Anybody have anything lying around?

PS: if anyone has any good build threads or knows of a decent online guide to give him ideas, I'll pass it along.

 

[Jinx]

Just a random side thought.

I am not sure that t-176 will hold up too well to a Vortec 350...

Ideally finding a nv4500, sm465, np435 or a t-18 would be a better option, then just adapt the t-case to the stronger tranny.

 

[Pile of parts]

I agree. Better to upgrade the transmission. Chevy nv 4500 or sm 465 would only require adapter to t-case and allow use of the Chevy bell housing. I run a tbi 350 and t-18. I was able to find a 1980 amc iron Duke 4 cylinder bell housing to adapt the transmission to the engine. This was a one year gm based 4 cylinder (had the same block pattern as a gm v8 but amc/Ford mounting holes for transmission) I think I had to drill and tap a couple of holes for the transmission but there were bosses in the bell housing to do so. I'm sure the np 435 would be about the same as a t-18.

 

[TurboMinivan]

I am not sure that t-176 will hold up too well to a Vortec 350.

We've seen a number of online references that say the T17x is a decent medium-duty transmission, even explicitly stating it can hold up to moderate V8 power so long as the owner isn't stupid or abusive. Due to Mike's ultra low-buck persona, I can assure you all that this CJ-5 will not be getting a transmission swap unless it is absolutely, completely 100% necessary.

Oh, and Mike is not going to build up his 350 into any sort of powerhouse. In fact, I'm sure the end result will make less power and torque than the stock engine did. He didn't choose the 350 because he wants a fast or powerful Jeep; instead, he selected it because (a) it was nearly free, (b) parts for it are cheaper than just about any other engine out there, and (c) he has lots of experience wrenching on a SBC so there is no learning curve involved.

 

[Pile of parts]

Then I would definitely suggest he search for the iron Duke 4 cylinder bell housing used in 1980 only. It will have a Chevy block pattern and the Jeep transmission bolt pattern. Found mine on eBay but that was years ago.

I have read the same about strength. So, it should work...For a while.

 

[Jinx]

One thing to point out that tranny was built to go behind a 84 horse power Inline 6 not a 250+ horse power 350.

Just to keep mild 350 in perspective.

plus ditching the 17x will likely gain him a granny gear.

 

[TurboMinivan]

plus ditching the 17x will likely gain him a granny gear.

Oh, yeah, definitely. I'm not saying there aren't benefits to upgrading the transmission. I just know he likely won't do that until this one dies a violent, fiery death.

 

[Jinx]

Oh, yeah, definitely. I'm not saying there aren't benefits to upgrading the transmission. I just know he likely won't do that until this one dies a violent, fiery death.

I have a buddy like this too.

"I am going to all this work/labor and spend a $1000 on a project, skip doing it right to have a catastrophic failure somewhere that will need someone to come and save me only to do all the labor again and spend twice as much to fix it next time to save $100 now."



Luckily his stuff is broke right so I don't have to worry about strapping him back to civilization. :greg:

 

[TurboMinivan]

Good news: after much discussion and lots of fruitless searching for that one-year-only bell housing, he is now considering buying an sm465 instead. It would actually save him money overall.

 

[Pile of parts]

Wise move! He'll be money ahead. Either way has its share of modifications but in the end he'll have a much better drivetrain.