What color is the Bell Housing?

[Dan Leavens]

Good morning guys. I have been watching this thread and posts with interest and all comments are very solid. I had a copy of the " Originality Specifications" for the 58-60 Squarebirds that I recently found. In it the following is stated:

Transmission and Bellhousing " cast-not painted " for all years 58-60. Having said that and unless you have a # 1 show car and subject to concours judging, I would agree with JohnG to spray it with a clear sealer to protect from rust. It will be interesting to see what Lou Pallini VTCI president comes back with. bcomo please let us know what Lou's response is.

Dano Calgary,Alberta Canada

[tmjsong1aolcom]

Painted Bell Housing

Alan as far as I know does not subscribe to this list but can be pulled in.

There was a lot of research put into the 2007 rules and this was one of the many items that had so much missinformation based on what was thought to be correct from the past.

Many Many items were proven wrong in the various past editions of the rules, one could not possible list them.

I spent most of my time working on the 58's. Yes Alan wrote it and compiled it but I was the major contributor to the edition.

58's were all painted chassis black. My info was from the many 58's I have parted out and the drivers I have. Unfortuntately these squarebirds were changed so often during their lives that figuring what was absolutely correct is impossible. The rules as written do not have typos on this point and yes chassis black is correct up to late 60 when switched to aluminum bell housing.

I did not review the 430's but suspect that they never changed to aluminum.

The above being said, There are errors in the 2007 rules that we do not know about or did not get time to research and there were several sections and areas that did not get completely finished. The 3-5 years that we both put into the 2007 version was enough. We do plan on an addendum in the future but the optimal word here is future.

Open to many thoughts and discussions but do not want any heated disagreements.

As for Tom's 60, I can find out what he did and the build dates and material used for his housing. Aluminum/cast iron.

Yes I am open to correcting errors but documentation is essential to make changes. Not just one car thought to be original.

Tanx
Fuz
58's&64's
Sun Prairie, Wi.
tmjsong1@aol.com

[bcomo]

Richard:

I think that I speak for everyone when I say that the effort that you and everyone put into the 2007 OFS is astounding and greatly appreciated.

So, as I understand it, the current 2007 rules stand as written -- Chassis Black it is. That's fine with me.

I started this post simply becuse I didn't really want to paint my newly sandblasted 430 bellhousing if it should be natural. Your post now resolves that issue for me personally.

Thanks for responding to this.

[Alan H. Tast, AIA]

58-60 OFS - Bellhousing Color Revisions

Following was also posted to VTCI's 1958-1960 Forum:

The revision for painted bellhousings was based upon review of original and unrestored engines/transmissions by the OFS research team ("Fuz" Johnson, Dan Likar, Kevin Wallenhorst and myself), which included looking at examples on parts, cars and disassembled items in various collections. The conclusions we came to were these:

1. Manual transmission cars had the bellhousings installed (with clutch and flywheel) prior to the engine getting painted. These were painted the same as the engine.

2. Auto trans cars had the bellhousing installed to the transmission, and was left off the car prior to painting of the engine. Flex plate and torque converter were not installed on the engine prior to painting as there were no tell-tale signs of overspray on these items.

3. We found traces of chassis black paint on the bellhousings, suggesting that these were painted before being assembled to the transmission case. Cast iron parts like these (for another example, master brake cylinders) typically got a light coat of chassis black or similar paint to keep these parts from flash-rusting while waiting for assembly and to preserve their appearance after assembly, when cars could be sitting for several months on dealers' sales lots. Over time the coating wore off, leaving the impression that the part was never painted.

There are numerous revisions to '58-'60 OFS from the 2003 version that were thoroughly researched - this is part of the reason why it took over 4 YEARS to complete the revisions, and even after this was completed there are still items we look at from time to time as more information comes to light.
_________________
Alan H. Tast, AIA
Past President, Vintage Thunderbird Club Int'l.
Author, "Thunderbird 1955-1966"

To add to this, in my nearly 20 years as an architect, plus having authored two history books solely on T-birds as well as editing VTCA/VTCI's "Thunderbird Scoop" for nearly a decade, my experience is that there will always be something that requires correction or revision after publication. With the vast number of parts and pieces that go into a car, not to mention the time span of production, running changes and the sheer passage of time to the present day, it is inevitable that something will be missed or require additional research to verify and/or correct.

If the move isn't made to issue something like '58-'60 OFS and get it in front of people to evaluate, nothing would have ever gotten done. I'm currently seeing an example of this in the Lincoln Continental Owners Club, which has had a '61-'63 Lincoln Authenticity Manual languishing for many years because people putting it together couldn't agree to release a partially finished book, and also because everyone wanted it to be 100% correct before publication. If they strive for that kind of perfection, a book like this will never see the light of day. That's why revision of VTCI's OFS books has been an ongoing process since the first Concours Rules was issued in the early '70s - it's better to get information out in peoples' hands, find out what the faults are and correct them as soon as you can.

[bcomo]

Alan:

Thank you for your detailed reply. We all appreciate the great effort and time spent to get the 2007 OFS completed and printed.

This answers my original question completely.

Thanks again.

[Dan Leavens]

Fuz and Alan, thanks very much for your clarification on this subject, as I am sure our members are. That is one of the many reasons our site has some very talented and informative members. To think, it took four years to complete your project speaks well of all of our passion, for these classics.

Dano Calgary,Alberta Canada