Bell housing

{{Short description|Connects a vehicle transmission to the engine}} {{More citations needed|date=February 2024}} [[Image:225 231 jeep buick bellhousing.JPG|thumb|A bare [[Buick]], [[Oldsmobile|Olds]], [[Pontiac (automobile)|Pontiac]] pattern bellhousing viewed from the engine end]] '''Bellhousing''' (also "bell-housing" or simply "bell") is a [[Colloquialism|colloquial]] term for the component that aligns and connects the [[Transmission (mechanics)|transmission]] of a [[vehicle]] to its [[engine]], and which covers and protects the [[flywheel]]/[[clutch]] or [[flexplate]]/[[torque converter]].<ref>{{cite magazine |title=The Drive Train |magazine=Driver |volume=5 |issue=6 |date=November 1971 |publisher=Department of the Air Force, Hq. Air Force Inspection and Safety Center |page=21 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vHELyxT9VPEC |access-date=19 February 2024 |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> It derives its name from the [[bell|bell-like shape]] that those internal components necessitate. The [[starter motor]] may mount to it, and it may support clutch and/or shifter [[Linkage (mechanical)|linkage]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Automotive |first1=C. D. X. |title=Fundamentals of Automotive Technology: Principles and Practice |date=2013 |publisher=Jones & Bartlett Publishers |isbn=978-1-4496-2411-8 |pages=290-291, 293 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mJWAa-qbOQUC |access-date=20 February 2024 |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

A bellhousing may be a separate housing bolted to the [[gearbox]], or it may be an integral portion of the transmission housing, particularly with [[Front-wheel drive|front wheel drive]] transmissions. An integral bell has a front bolt pattern that matches the engine to which it will be paired, and a divorced bell additionally has a rear bolt pattern that matches the gearbox to which it will be paired. The use of different bellhousings on a transmission allows the same transmission to be used on multiple engines in multiple applications.

==References== {{reflist}}

==See also== * [[List of auto parts]] * [[List of Ford bellhousing patterns]] * [[List of GM bellhousing patterns]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell Housing}} [[Category:Auto parts]]