bellhousing interchange 312 to 360

[gregaba]

Friend of mine has a 55 merc with a 3 speed OD trans he wants to keep.
He bought a good running 360 75? and wants to hook up the t-85 to the engine.
He went to the salvage yard and bought a bell,flywheel starter etc from a 65 PU with the 2 bolt starter.
The 312 he has used the long rear mounted bendix drive starter.
If I remember right you could redrill the newer bell and use the newer type starter but it has been so long I don't know if my memory is playing tricks on me.
Has anyone done this conversion and if so can you confirm my memoey? if not can anyone give me the right bell etc. part numbers to use or the years my friend needs to find to make this conversion work?
Thankds
Greg
 

[SSdynosaur]

The '64 and down bell will accept both the "long-nose" Y-block style starter and match the "55 trans bolt pattern but I'm uncertain that the starter drive gear tooth-count matches the long-nose FE starter drive tooth count for use with a '75 flywheel. You could also use a bell from mid '65-up as they have a the dual trans bolt pattern but will only accept the, later, short-nose starters (obtain a different starter). I'm also uncertain that the Y-block-specific input shaft's dimensions match the FE input shaft. If the trans is a Borg Warner T85 vs. Ford OD, Ford installed those with FE's through '64, with the narrow bolt pattern. Sorry, I've installed Y-block BW OD's behind FE's but as part of the install I always replaced the input shaft and never committed the dimensions to memory.

[Rory428]

I`m confused here, first off, is the 65 bellhousing from a Y block Truck, or a FE? Also, I have never seen a starter for a FE or a Y Block with only 2 mounting bolts. Now, IF the bellhousing is for a FE, it should already be a short nose starter style, so if the starter , block plate, and flywheel is used, should work no problem. However, the 55 transmission will have the narrow mounting pattern, and the 65 bellhousing (if FE), should have only the later wide pattern. I have never seen a FE bellhousing with both patterns, it is the transmission case which would have 2 patterns. Another consideration is the OD of the input front bearing retainer, 65 and later 4 speed Toploaders have a larger OD retainer than the earlier transmissions. On my 59, I used a 1961 car bellhousing with a 66 Toploader behind the 428, using the narrow transmission bolt pattern, but had to adress the retainer OD difference. I used the 65 and newer short starter, with a 184 tooth flywheel, and block plate, which all worked fine with no drilling or modifying the bellhousing at all for the starter, as the early and late starters both shared the same 3 bolt starter pattern.

[gregaba]

Thanks for the answers and help.
Sorry for the confusion. The started he bought is the short nose with 3 bolts.
What he has is a trans with OD from the 55 Merc 312. The 312 was added sometime in the Merc's life and is not srock.
The engine is a 360 out of a truck.
The trans is a 3 speed with OD. I will have to go over and check if it is a BW or a Ford OD.
The bell and associated part's came from a 65 truck he pulled at the junk yard yesterday.  It has the wide bolt pattern [bell] and the trans has the narrow pattern.
I will pass this info to him tonight.
Thanks again.
Greg