QuestionHello Dick. Am trying to get rusty bell housing off small v8, probably 240? Acts like there is a bolt hidden behind the oil filter corner, would it be a rusted on dowel, or is there a bolt hidden inside the clutch housing... or somewhere? Thanks. (55-56 plymouth savoy, small v8, 240-260 3 speed manualw/overdrive. Pulled it off a junker).
AnswerThere are no hidden bolts that I recall. There should be two dowels, and they do stick really tight. Don't get rough with a hammer, the bell housing will crack easily. Try warming up the area around the dowel with a torch, then let it cool, it might release then. Don't go above a dull red glow, though.
Of course you have to find the dowel first, though. Usually you can see the place where it goes into the bell housing by looking around the outer circumference of the bell housing - you'll see where the bolts come into it, and then there will be two more similar bumps where the dowels are, one on each side of the engine.
I don't have anything similar to look at like that car here, so I'm going from memory - I hope I'm right about this but no guarantee!
Dick (who bought a 56 V8 Plymouth wagon with stick/OD brand new!). It was a really great car until it got totalled by a drunk in 1958.
