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, Olds, Pontiac pattern bellhousing viewed from the engine end]] '''Bellhousing''' (also "bell-housing" or simply "bell") is a colloquial term for the component that aligns and connects the 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-like shape that those internal components necessitate. The starter motor may mount to it, and it may support clutch and/or shifter 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 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}}

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