Roadranger questions

I have a RTO6613 which I'm hooking up behind a 160 Cummins in a Inter Dline. Truck Transmissions in Sydney supplied and fitted an appropriate bell housing, but pointed out that the said bell housing had the inspection plate at the top instead of the bottom (not a huge problem) and the thrust bearing lever operating from the top instead of the bottom (which is going to need some extensive mods to the clutch mechanism to make work).
Q1. The bell housing looks symmetrical to me, so why can't I just pull it off the gearbox and rotate it 180 degrees then all problems solved (almost as the clutch lever would be on the wrong side, but I can fix that).
Q2. The road range manual says if you seperate the bell housing from the gearbox then you need to take it to a transmission specialist to reattach it. Why is it so? It's only 4 bolts mating two machine surfaces. Surely the tolerance aren't that fine that you need super sensitive instruments to fit the two together?

Enquiring minds need to know.

On the 600 series the bellhousing is also the front of the transmission case..........you may be able to swap the clutch throwout as some housings have clutch shaft bores above and below the centreline......Even so ,you should be able to hook up the clutch rod with a bit of engineering.........There is IMHO a considerable problem with a top access cover ,if you have an angle spring clutch and clutch brake.........However if you have a single plate conventional clutch ,probably wont matter.....EDIT.... Id better find my 6613 manual and check that info..............EDIT(2)......doesnt say,but looks like the front housing is symmetrical,and can be turned over,to put the inspection plate on the4 bottom......Ive never heard of aligning stuff ,the front aligns on the big bearing race and the studs.

I have a spare 610 that I maybe able to get a look at later today. I had swapped the housing off that to the box in my F350. Have a 1000 hours on it with no problems. As John said the housing is indexed by the bearings so it will line up.
I used an air assist hydraulic slave cylinder that took care of clutch operation . On some the clutch shaft is splined both sides so can be operate from either side.
Cheers Steve

The clutch will make a big difference.....if its an angle spring ,then its a pull type,if a standard single plate 14"Lipe that the 184s used ,then its a push type.......This is a difference at the front of the gearbox ,as the Lipe needs a throwout support sleeve type bearing housing,whereas the angle spring doesnt have one ,but has a bronze bushing supported on the front shaft,along with the clutch brake unit ,if one is used.....The cross shaft is also at a different offset to the mainshaft for the pull type or push type.......There is also a "Mini -Anglespring" clutch fitted to later (1980s) Inters ......dont exactly recall the differences........There was also a big catch with Louisvilles,they often had the wrong throwout arms fitted for the Lipe clutch ,that with a bit of wear on the pads against the throwout bearing ,would jam .

Sorry, could not get access to the box so cannot supply further info at the moment.
Steve

John I'm pretty sure I've got the standard single plate clutch. There is no clutch brake and the RR box has been fitted with a countershaft brake instead. I'm also pretty sure the throwout has the support sleeve type bearing. So it sounds like it should be doable to flip the bell housing to get the correct orientation for the inspection cover and throwout lever operating from the bottom position, leaving me only with the problem of turning the shaft so the clutch linkage works on the right side.
Steve thanks for that, I have considered adding a hydraulic clutch into the mix, and might still do that particularly if the peddle requires to much leg muscle, but at the moment I want a quick and easy solution.
My only worry with flipping the bell housing is, if it is doable, why didn't the "experts" at Truck Transmissions think of that? It might be that reversing the linkage lever shaft isn't going to be as easy as it looks.

Inspection cover at the top will be OK for a Lipe push type clutch,reason being that adjustment doesnt need acess to the pressure plate like an angle spring.

The shaft should not be a problem, has a couple of keys for the throw out lever and either splines , key or offset bolt holding the clutch lever to the shaft. May just need a little re-work to get the lever into the position you require.
Depending on the SAE size of that housing flywheel combo you may not really need the brake. I have an odd (for a 6BT Cummins ) that is SAE3 and the lower mass of the assembly does not the brake.

Never found a brake needed for a single plate clutch......and with a 6613,there is never any need for an upshift brake,as the gears are close together........A 160 Cummins from an Inter will have a #2 housing,and a 14" single plate clutch.....lots have Repco plate and pressure plate.....I never liked the Repco clutch plates ,seen too many with the rivets holding the spring hub parts break ......anyway ,they are history now.

John, thanks for the comment about the countershaft brake as I had been wondering if it was necessary and is using up the spot for the PTO pump.

I finally got around to having a proper look at the bell housing. There are 8 fastening points 6 nuts on studs circled in blue in the photo. And 2 bolts circled in red. I’m worried about taking out the two bolts which the manual describes as clutch housing cap screws if I’m reading it right. It also says to use a sealant on all cap screws on reassembly to prevent oil leaks. So does this mean when I undo the cap screws oil will come pouring out? It’s just going to add to the complexity if I have to drain the oil first.

Swapping the clutch lever shaft around should be easy. The only thing holding the shaft in place is the throw out arms which are clamped to the shaft.

I don’t know what type of clutch it is, I haven’t pulled out to check for wear because I basically believe if I don’t look at it then I ‘ve got 50% chance that it’s ok.