Looking for bellhousing for twincam/crossflow

[Healeyracer]

I have a Lotus twincam motor, I know same block as the cross flow, and what I believe is a Lotus Elan transmission (but that is a guess).  It has Ford markings and the following numbers 282IE - 7006D.  I bought an early pinto bell housing that looked like it may fit, but it doesn't fit the transmission. Anyone have any direction or guidance to find the proper bell housing? 

[MV8]

Have you verified that all the bellhousing bolts align on the block? Looks to be a "bullet" 2000E 4 speed. Post a pic of the front and back of the bellhousing and the short block. Could be an odd-ball kent/EAO application bell for a euro external rail shifter transmission like the Reliant Scimitar with a Type 5. Most all domestics in the early 70s were external rail (all linkages on one side) with the euros having internal rail or very compact external rails for clearance in smaller vehicles. One possibility is the bell is for a pinto lima. Some limas had both patterns back then and some bells may have been made with both as well. If you have a bell that accepts lima application transmissions and fits the block, that would be a huge plus. 

 

Since this is a kit car, I would consider either an axle with a ratio near 3:1 or an overdrive transmission like a T5 from a mustang or tbird turbo coupe (lima, 3.8 v6, 5.0l v8 with some variation in input shaft length), Type 9 from a merkur (kent/EAO trans apps), Toyo Koygo 5 spd from a ranger (lima), or an early M50RD1 from a ranger (lima).

Edited December 18, 2025 by MV8

[SENC]

Given the shifter turret in the back of the tail housing, this gearbox is not from an Elan.  Post pictures of the various cast numbers on both the box and tails housing and we may be able to help identify it.

 

Re: the bellhousing... a 105e or 109e bellhousing will fit to the pre-crossflow and twink engines (from a bolt-hole layout perspective).  But which you need depends on the overall setup, including clutch).  105e belhousings (identifiable with external ribs) were used on the Elans as they provided more clearance for larger clutches.  My S2 Seven has the 109e bellhousing (smooth exterior), which works just fine with the smaller 7.25" and 7.5" clutches.

 

I'd recommend lotuselan.net for further research - there are lots of posts and pictures on gearboxes and bellhousings from folks with lots of experience with them.  Pay particular attention to any post from "promotr", a long time rebuilder of EnFo gearboxes.

 

 

[wdb]

That looks like the gearbox in my 7. Here is a picture of the gearbox, bell housing, and twincam engine. Sorry I don't have casting numbers for you. The car is laid up for the winter and getting dimensions etc. would be tough as well. But if they'd be helpful I can give it a go. 

 

As far as the gearbox is concerned, it's definitely a Ford unit of some kind, very closely related to the Elan gearbox. I used an Elan gasket set and seals when I resealed mine. The innards are just like the other 3 rail gearboxes as well. It's the tailshaft that differentiates it from, say, an Elan gearbox.

 

[Healeyracer]

Here are a couple of additional pictures of the transmission.

[7Westfield]

It's a type 3 / 2000e

I have a spare bellhousing from a type 3, which should fit, but not ready to sell just yet

Burton has an aluminum one, but it's $400, plus tariffs, etc

get a Burton catalog...lots of good pics and info

 

try Dave Bean   maybe Ken has something 

Edited December 21, 2025 by 7Westfield

[11Budlite]

Check out the Burton tuning guides. 

 

https://www.burtonpower.com/tuning-guides.html

Edited December 18, 2025 by 11Budlite

[craig chima]

Sent you a PM and I have one that is extra to my needs and am willing to sell.

[Joe Petty]

Please keep us posted on your progress.

You have attracted the right people on this topic and they are getting harder to find.

You may still have some "challenges" getting all the right pieces together!

 

Good Luck!

 

Joe

[SENC]

Another clue to what the gearbox came from would be the gear ratios, which you probably want to know anyway before deciding whether to use it.  Easiest way is probably to count the teeth on each gear.  Also, both the gearbox casing and tailhousing should have stamped date codes (though internals could have certainly been rebuilt to other than original specs).

 

There were multiple variants in the 2821 series, so get a good idea of what you actually have before ordering any bits if you are planning a rebuild.

[Healeyracer]

The gearbox came from a friend's shop.  He is 99.9% certain it came from an Elan, but no guarantee it was original to the Elan.  It has been kicking around his shop for probably a decade or more, so there is always the chance that it got mixed up with something else, but doubtful.

[SENC]

10 hours ago, Healeyracer said:

The gearbox came from a friend's shop.  He is 99.9% certain it came from an Elan, but no guarantee it was original to the Elan.  It has been kicking around his shop for probably a decade or more, so there is always the chance that it got mixed up with something else, but doubtful.

It 100% did not come out of an Elan... unless someone later changed the tailhousing.

 

That notwithstanding, the bits within the gearbox changed even during the life of the Elan, requiring different baulk rings/blocker bars, different bushings and bearings, etc.  There weren't a lot of changes, but the wearable parts are not necessarily interchangeable across the transitions.

 

If the innards are in good shape and not too worn and if the gearing will meet your needs and all you plan to do give it a clean, then the above doesn't matter.  But if it needs some work, as most of these now 50-60+ y-o boxes do, you'll want to avoid the hassle of wrong parts.

 

EDIT - as I noted in an earlier post, the reason I'm confident this didn't come from an Elan is the shifter turret location (green).  Elans did not have the tailhousing with that "port" - I'll grab a picture of one and post it, too.

 

 

Elans had the shifter turret where the red arrow points.

 

Older Sevens, like mine, that use (essentially) the same gearbox and tailhousing as the Elan required an add-on remote shifter.  It bolted to the tailhousing where the red arrow it but moved the shifter back to the equivalent of the turret in your picture.  Then, Ford made the tailhousing with the remote turret built-in and Lotus didn't need to the add-on.

 

My recollection (but I havent looked this up in a while and could be mistaken) is that Ford made the tailhousing with remote built-in for the Escort.

Lotus definitely used it in some Sevens.  I don't have an Elan+2 so perhaps someone can chime in if that car used the remote shifter location, but the Elan did not.

 

EDIT2 - additional picture - the middle tailhousing is the style used in Elans.  The right has the built-in remote, like yours..  the left (I think) is for the Anglia.

 

Edited December 19, 2025 by SENC

[MV8]

FWIW, here are kent and an early lima bell to accept the same trans (E, Type 9,bullet 2000e, etc).

[joe7]

Seems like Henry pretty much nailed the different type of tail shafts. Not sure what your application is, 7 or Elan? On the bell housing per MV8, neither are for a Ford 3 rail that uses the bell housing with an external slave cylinder located in a boss on the right side (viewing from the front) of BH, which is generally used in Elan and 7s. Also to note, those type of BH usually have the starter mount open in the rear to accommodate the starter pinion. On the picture of the input shaft, you will probably need to clean it up and check that its in spec.

[MV8]

3 hours ago, joe7 said:

Seems like Henry pretty much nailed the different type of tail shafts. Not sure what your application is, 7 or Elan? On the bell housing per MV8, neither are for a Ford 3 rail that uses the bell housing with an external slave cylinder located in a boss on the right side (viewing from the front) of BH, which is generally used in Elan and 7s. Also to note, those type of BH usually have the starter mount open in the rear to accommodate the starter pinion. On the picture of the input shaft, you will probably need to clean it up and check that its in spec.

Yes, they will fit a 3 rail. Yes, the bells are not original to a Lotus or CAT. No, this is not for a Lotus or CAT. The point was to show the block and trans bolt patterns.

[SENC]

To Joe's point, we're probably all chasing without knowing HealeyRacer's intent.

 

Specifically to the question of what is the right bellhousing (assuming it is for an Elan gearbox to twink)... the 105e bellhousing.  Multiple others will fit the box, and multiple others will fit the engine block.  But only the 105e (to my knowledge) will fit the larger Elan clutch and have the clutch slave carrier.  As I stated earlier, a 109e bellhousing would work if a 7.25" or 7.5" clutch is in the cards.

 

I probably got off track trying to answer his "guess" that it came from an Elan by digging deeper to suggest that, since it apparently is not, determing what it is and what gear ratios it has may impact whether the gearbox (as-is) is appropriate for his intent (which I assume is a Seven).

[Healeyracer]

Thanks for all of the input!  Yes this is going in a 7. RM Super 7. With a twin cam from a Europa, and the transmission that I thought was from an Elan, but could have been swapped out for something else at some point.  I will count gears at some point, but it will probably be Saturday evening before I can get back to the garage.  I did purchase one of the early pinto aluminum bell housings and while it fit the motor, did not fit the transmission.  Craig has a steel one for me at a reasonable price, so will see if we can make that deal work out.  But I still have some issue to figure out with the shifter, as this does not seem to come back far enough to be comfortable.  Will reserve final judgment till I can test fit with the proper bell housing, but I don't imagine it would bring it back any further than the other one did.

[Healeyracer]

And that bell housing in the above picture was not the pinto, it was one I knew was wrong, just held the transmission, and was close to the right length, and had to drill holes for the transmission.

[wdb]

You are correct on the shift lever location. It will come out just under the edge of the dash. My car originally had a long lever that was bent to clear the lower edge of the dashboard. It worked but one had to watch one's fingers. I wanted to cut it off but I wanted to be able to reverse the process if the shortened lever turned out to be too much of a reach. (I will tell you now that shift levers for that tail housing are VERY hard to find.) But it works just fine as a little stubby under the dash. It feels like a long reach at first but I got used to it very quickly.

 

 

 

All that said, I am contemplating putting the shifter extension back in the car. More details and pictures on that, and on the lever lopping itself, can be found here:

 

[MV8]

Here is the basic ideal for a no mod shifter extension. The block can be steel or aluminum.