CUDAGUY
aka Prince Valiant
$600-700 for the whole thing with 27,000 on it. I can start pulling AX-15 bellhousings if there is a demand, the PnP's here generaly have 2-3 in a yard at any given time.
couple R-154 swap questions
- Thread starter CUDAGUY
- Start date
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DionR
Well-Known Member
I'm not certain of the specifics, but Clair Davis was working on using a bell from a Liberty so that he could avoid the big 143T flywheel. As I recall, it didn't work, but I can't say for certain why. I'm pretty sure it took a special starter (that was expensive), and maybe it was impossible to get the starter to engage the flywheel.
Pretty sure the only way to make it work is to use the AX15 bell from a Dakota.
Maybe Clair will pop in here an share his findings.
Pretty sure the only way to make it work is to use the AX15 bell from a Dakota.
Maybe Clair will pop in here an share his findings.
wayfarer
Well-Known Member
The Liberty, and similar units, will have a much smaller bell/flywheel, and an adapter can be made for just about any bell to any block. However, the small Liberty flywheel will be tough to modify to bolt up to a larger v-8 flange. It would, of course, be possible to modify the v-8 flange to look like the small liberty flange but durability will suffer....
So, that leaves you a custom billet flywheel. It won't be cheap but it is doable.
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So, that leaves you a custom billet flywheel. It won't be cheap but it is doable.
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DionR
Well-Known Member
Ok, went back and looked up what Clair had to say.
The Liberty bell bolted up fine to his block. There was one hole that didn't line up, similar to an early bell bolted to a GenIII Hemi, but he wasn't concerned about it.
The stock SB 130T flywheel cleared the bell. It was close, but it doesn't hit anything.
The problem was that the liberty specific starter would not engage the ring gear, because it was too far out from the block. If the ring gear could be moved back on the flywheel, it looked like it would work. Clair's flywheel was stepped and would not allow it to be repositioned.
So, if a flywheel could be accessed that would allow the ring gear to be positioned .3"-.5" closer to the block, it was possible that a 3.7L v6 Jeep Liberty bellhousing could be used to bolt an R154 trans to the back of a Mopar small block.
As a bonus (or poke in the eye, depending on how you look at it), at the time, the 3.7L bellhousing was less than $50 NEW from Mopar.
The Liberty bell bolted up fine to his block. There was one hole that didn't line up, similar to an early bell bolted to a GenIII Hemi, but he wasn't concerned about it.
The stock SB 130T flywheel cleared the bell. It was close, but it doesn't hit anything.
The problem was that the liberty specific starter would not engage the ring gear, because it was too far out from the block. If the ring gear could be moved back on the flywheel, it looked like it would work. Clair's flywheel was stepped and would not allow it to be repositioned.
So, if a flywheel could be accessed that would allow the ring gear to be positioned .3"-.5" closer to the block, it was possible that a 3.7L v6 Jeep Liberty bellhousing could be used to bolt an R154 trans to the back of a Mopar small block.
As a bonus (or poke in the eye, depending on how you look at it), at the time, the 3.7L bellhousing was less than $50 NEW from Mopar.
CUDAGUY
aka Prince Valiant
cant shim the starter out?
DionR
Well-Known Member
That would only make it worse. The bendix gear doesn't reach far enough in as it is, shimming the sharter out would move the bendix gear farther from the ring gear than before.
wayfarer
Well-Known Member
OK, yes the 3.7 bell bolt pattern is the same as the 3.9 and the 4.7, 5.2, etc. For some reason I focused on the 2.5 Liberty bell.
And, of course, the 130 t wheel will fit because it is smaller in OD than the stock 143: on left is 130, on right is 143.
But being so much smaller means that the starter will never reach the ring gear regardless of fore/aft positioning, which should not be an issue. If you take bell and flywheel from a 'new' 3.9/5.2 then all will bolt up to an 'old' 5.2/5.9 without issue except for balancing.
The above pics show the 8-bolt wheels but both are available in 6-bolt version also (3.9, 5.2). The billet 130t wheel weighs 25lbs and the oem 143t casting weighs 32 lbs. We have trimmed some weight from the 143 but the 32lbs works well in a 3500lb car.
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And, of course, the 130 t wheel will fit because it is smaller in OD than the stock 143: on left is 130, on right is 143.
But being so much smaller means that the starter will never reach the ring gear regardless of fore/aft positioning, which should not be an issue. If you take bell and flywheel from a 'new' 3.9/5.2 then all will bolt up to an 'old' 5.2/5.9 without issue except for balancing.
The above pics show the 8-bolt wheels but both are available in 6-bolt version also (3.9, 5.2). The billet 130t wheel weighs 25lbs and the oem 143t casting weighs 32 lbs. We have trimmed some weight from the 143 but the 32lbs works well in a 3500lb car.
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