[JSHarvey]

Hi All - or at least all who read this,

I had my oil changed today, when the tech drove it into the bay he went a bit fast over the garage door's threshold and the subsequent dip by the car let the very bottom of the bell housing hit a raised area around their oil pit. The "collision" broke the lowest bolt holder/hole off of the bottom of the bell housing.

I looked under the car and noticed that the holes to the left and right of this one had bolts. This one however did not (and it did not appear to have threads. The break was clearly brand new, I've got the bottom half of the boss and the break is absolutely clean and shiny.

The techs were apologetic and suggested I call the manager tomorrow and see what they suggested.

My question is this: Is there suppose to be a bolt in this hole? If not why is it there. Prior to this accident there was not a bolt in there, did whoever last dealt with the clutch mess up?

Now to be fair the front springs on this car let it sit to low (way to low), I need to either get new springs or put Mustang Plus's 1 inch top spacer in. So I can see how it would be easy for this accident to happen.

Any advice appreciated.

John Harvey

 

[fordnut]

The bottom 3 bolts hold the inspection plate on. It is a little tin plate that let you have access to the flywheel.
I wouldn't worry about, unless you are planning a concourse resto...Most unrestored Mustangs that I have seen don't even have the tin plate on the bellhousing...

 

[JSHarvey]

Mine has the tin plate, and I guess the two other bolts are all that have been holding it on since about 1985 (last time the clutch was changed - it was in storage a long time). So I guess I'm probably ok with not worrying about it.

John Harvey

 

[Mustangerbob1]

If it is an automatic, it has the little inspection plate, but it is used to loosed the torque converter nuts to separate the engine/trans. But you mentioned a clutch, if so, it should be one huge plate.