I'm thinking about installing a Velvet Drive in my Gaylord. I'll be using an FE Ford and can't seem to find an adapter for that block for a Velvet Drive. Does anyone know if there ever was one made for that engine and if so where I might find one?
Wanted info on a Velvet Drive Adapter for FE Ford
1 - 20 of 20 Posts
Joined
·
81 Posts
An adapter or bell housing and damper plate?
I Run a Series 80 PCM 1:1 in my flat however BBC marine bellhousings and damper plates are very available.
the biggest issue i had was turning a flange to adapt the driveline to the transmission output coupler. turned it on a lathe..
I Run a Series 80 PCM 1:1 in my flat however BBC marine bellhousings and damper plates are very available.
the biggest issue i had was turning a flange to adapt the driveline to the transmission output coupler. turned it on a lathe..
I'm looking for the bellhousing that adapts the FE block to the Velvet Drive. Will need whatever is needed to tie the drive to the crank also. I would prefer retaining the flywheel, if that is possible.
That's what I get for running an FE. Your right about the BBC parts being available. I find adapters for SBC, SBF and even the 385 series BBF (429, 460) but not for the FE series BBF (332, 352, 360, 390, 406, 410, 427, 428). Can't even find a reference to any being made in the past which doesn't give me much hope.
Also my brother has a 440 Chrysler in a Byers hull. He wants to run a Velvet Drive but can't find an adapter for that either.
Joined
·
258 Posts
Have you tried Glenwood? My brother in law runs one on his 248 CJ, ill check and see if he came across any others. On my Sanger I made the adaptor because I liked my set up. I set up the velvet drive in the boat with the drive plat on the fly wheel, got everything square and then made a mold out of bondo. I am lucky as I have a BIL who is a killer machinist and he made me a plate to match, looks like a big carb spacer but has the contours of the velvet drive. did this back in 96' and no issues.
Thanks. I'll check that out. I was also thinking of fabricating something myself if I can't find a ready made adapter.
Just checked the Glenwood site. They list one for 429/460 but not the FE nor 440 Chrysler. I'll give them a call. Maybe they have some old stock stashed in the back. They probably still have the old molds and might do a one off but that won't be cheap.
Amazing. I figured if it existed someone here would have at least seen one and maybe even have one. Assuming that you do want to sell it, how much would you want for it? Where are you located?
Joined
·
258 Posts
I was thinking that Mr FE Brian would have one of these... Sweet!
How would the back of the engine be supported with this adapter. Looking in the Glenwood catalog I see that some of the adapters have mounting ears and some do not. This Nicson adapter also has no ears. Is there a support made for the Velvet Drive or is there another way to support the back of the engine that I don't know about?
Just found out how it's done with the mounting plate that goes between the block and the adapter housing. Learning all the time.
Joined
·
727 Posts
Hi 66,
Yes, it’s done with mounting plate. The Nicson can adapt to most plates. Actually can’t think of one it wouldn’t.
‘I’ll sell it & consider it yours.
‘I’m in Southern California but heading to the river tomorrow. I’ll be available late next week if you’d like it.
Brian
Yes, it’s done with mounting plate. The Nicson can adapt to most plates. Actually can’t think of one it wouldn’t.
‘I’ll sell it & consider it yours.
‘I’m in Southern California but heading to the river tomorrow. I’ll be available late next week if you’d like it.
Brian
Not far at all. I'll send you a PM.
Joined
·
258 Posts
I run a bellhousing on my day cruiser that does not have legs, I used the velvet drive to mount the rear of the engine. it's a Nicson unit and they sold a ton like this. make sure to check the depth of your velvet drive spline gear once you get it on that bellhousing. I have two of these bellhousings and one has to be milled down as only a 1/4 inch of the spline engaged the coupler on the flywheel.
I am in Long Beach and I have a connection with the Gaylords, my Dad used to build the trailers for Bill back in the day as well as various other jobs for him, I actually crashed Bills Sand Rail into our Fish Pond....oops We have had several over the years in our group... did you pick up this up local or have you had it a while also we are Kings River guys did you use the boat up there?
![IMG_0359.jpg]()
I am in Long Beach and I have a connection with the Gaylords, my Dad used to build the trailers for Bill back in the day as well as various other jobs for him, I actually crashed Bills Sand Rail into our Fish Pond....oops We have had several over the years in our group... did you pick up this up local or have you had it a while also we are Kings River guys did you use the boat up there?
I'm basically a Ford guy although I do have some GM stuff (327, 409) and drive a Silverado. Have also been into boats since my teens and always wanted a flatbottom so, twenty years ago, when I was at the Veterans Hi Performance swap meet and saw this old guy with all of the hardware to install an FE in a flatbottom, needless to say, I was interested. I bought all of the hardware and started talking with the guy and found out he had the boat that all of it came out of. So the next thing I know I'm in Lancaster at the old guy's shop buying the Gaylord. Little did I know that the old guy , Gene Deaver, was somewhat of a celebrity in the flatbottom/hydro world. I didn't find that out until years later.
The boat has been sitting all of these years stored in my mom's back yard until a few years ago when we had to sell the house. I have since been slowly working on it amongst all my other projects. In the last year I have had it painted and just recently picked up a nice trailer for it from Coletr5 on this site.
Haven't been to Kings River. Most of my boating has actually been up in Oregon on a large lake called Tenmile Lake just North of Coos Bay/North Bend. Been going there since I was a kid. All of our boat landings are at docks on that lake (some in very close quarters), so I figured a Velvet Drive would make handling a lot easier.
Nice to know that you are close by in LB. I'm learning as I go about flatbottoms so may want to pick your brain on some things, if that's ok?
I'll start with the drive that you run on your BBC. Is it the the 71C or the 72C? I understand that the 71 can only handle about 360 hp and the 72 is good for 550hp. I've been trying to find a 72 to handle about 450hp. That's about what I expect from the FE that I plan to build. I would imagine that's about the hp that you have, or more. Just curious as to which drive is handling that on your's.
Appreciate you reaching out and hope to talk more.
Phil
The boat has been sitting all of these years stored in my mom's back yard until a few years ago when we had to sell the house. I have since been slowly working on it amongst all my other projects. In the last year I have had it painted and just recently picked up a nice trailer for it from Coletr5 on this site.
Haven't been to Kings River. Most of my boating has actually been up in Oregon on a large lake called Tenmile Lake just North of Coos Bay/North Bend. Been going there since I was a kid. All of our boat landings are at docks on that lake (some in very close quarters), so I figured a Velvet Drive would make handling a lot easier.
Nice to know that you are close by in LB. I'm learning as I go about flatbottoms so may want to pick your brain on some things, if that's ok?
I'll start with the drive that you run on your BBC. Is it the the 71C or the 72C? I understand that the 71 can only handle about 360 hp and the 72 is good for 550hp. I've been trying to find a 72 to handle about 450hp. That's about what I expect from the FE that I plan to build. I would imagine that's about the hp that you have, or more. Just curious as to which drive is handling that on your's.
Appreciate you reaching out and hope to talk more.
Phil
Joined
·
258 Posts
Phil, anything we can help with just let me know.
MY first experience with a velvet drive was in a 69' Sanger that my Dad and Brother bought together back in 79' or 80'. The boat had a Boss 429 backed by a velvet drive and as my Dad says it was like driving a Cadillac when you compared it to the crash boxes in the other boats, his wood decker has a top loader Casale with FRN, but you have to shut the engine down to shift or you "crash" the gears.
I run the Velvet drives in my Sanger and My Spectra, I put one in a friends 72' Sanger a couple years ago as well, BIL has one in his Hallett with a 428 CJ, they are pretty bullet proof. We do run the 72C units almost identical to the 71, I think there is a slight difference in the case but they look identical. I run 525 to 550 horse in my boats and my issues have been with drive plates, don't skimp, make sure to get a good plate, we broke the welds off one and spun the splines out of another when I first put the velvet drive in around 96', no issues since those first years. The one we broke the weld off of was old, I raided it from the 69' Sanger as it was down and Pop said just grab that one, so its kind of a badge of honor, it ran forever behind that Boss 9 but didn't last two days behind the BBC. The spline gear issue was my fault, I mentioned I made a mold for my brother in law to build a spacer off of, its looks killer but I didn't get it perfectly square, it was about 3/32 off, corrected that and haven't had an issue since.
You can spend thousands on these things and make them handle huge power, for a ski boat and cruiser they are absolutely fine, they do not like rpm, when I lost the spline gears the motor revved up to 7200, as I had hammered my Sanger into a turn and was mashing the pedal out of it when it popped, scared the shit out of me and I floated a while just staring at that little tattle tail on the tac before I tried to start the boat again, I ended up burning the pump up on the Velvet drive.
If you cant find a 72, I have two in the garage for parts, no idea what shape they are in, I have had several rebuilt at Bellflower Transmission, I want to say right around $400 and he does everything.
MY first experience with a velvet drive was in a 69' Sanger that my Dad and Brother bought together back in 79' or 80'. The boat had a Boss 429 backed by a velvet drive and as my Dad says it was like driving a Cadillac when you compared it to the crash boxes in the other boats, his wood decker has a top loader Casale with FRN, but you have to shut the engine down to shift or you "crash" the gears.
I run the Velvet drives in my Sanger and My Spectra, I put one in a friends 72' Sanger a couple years ago as well, BIL has one in his Hallett with a 428 CJ, they are pretty bullet proof. We do run the 72C units almost identical to the 71, I think there is a slight difference in the case but they look identical. I run 525 to 550 horse in my boats and my issues have been with drive plates, don't skimp, make sure to get a good plate, we broke the welds off one and spun the splines out of another when I first put the velvet drive in around 96', no issues since those first years. The one we broke the weld off of was old, I raided it from the 69' Sanger as it was down and Pop said just grab that one, so its kind of a badge of honor, it ran forever behind that Boss 9 but didn't last two days behind the BBC. The spline gear issue was my fault, I mentioned I made a mold for my brother in law to build a spacer off of, its looks killer but I didn't get it perfectly square, it was about 3/32 off, corrected that and haven't had an issue since.
You can spend thousands on these things and make them handle huge power, for a ski boat and cruiser they are absolutely fine, they do not like rpm, when I lost the spline gears the motor revved up to 7200, as I had hammered my Sanger into a turn and was mashing the pedal out of it when it popped, scared the shit out of me and I floated a while just staring at that little tattle tail on the tac before I tried to start the boat again, I ended up burning the pump up on the Velvet drive.
If you cant find a 72, I have two in the garage for parts, no idea what shape they are in, I have had several rebuilt at Bellflower Transmission, I want to say right around $400 and he does everything.
Brian,
Are you back in town? If you are, I'm still interested in the adapter that you have. Not sure if you saw it but I sent you a PM.
Phil
1 - 20 of 20 Posts
Join the discussion
Join now to ask and comment!