Picked up a Desoto 276 Firedome Eight hemi a couple of weeks ago. Trying to break it down and I cannot get the bell housing separated from the block. I've got all the bolts off and it is hanging up right behind the oil filter. Is there a hidden bolt on the backside or something? I'm assuming the bell housing can be removed over the flywheel and clutch plate....
Yes. There is a bolt that goes forward, through the bellhousing and into the block. It is reached from INSIDE the bellhousing. I can't remember of there is one like it on the starter side, or not. But definitely on the filter side. If you have not yet removed the flywheel or fluid coupling, getting to that bolt is virtually impossible . I have a '59 truck 315 Hemi that was very, very stuck when I acquired it. It had the big truck bellhousing, flywheel and clutch in place, none of which could be removed since the crank wouldn't turn to expose the various attaching bolts. I ended up hole sawing an opening at that bolt's location, blew it's head off with a torch, pried the bell back some and used a reciprocating saw to cut the bolt shank. That allowed removal of the bellhousing and access to the remaining clutch and flywheel attachments. Disassembly of the rest of the engine is a whole other story, but suffice to say...it was labor intensive. If your engine turns freely, you will not have such problems. Ray
Yep you got to be able to turn the engine to disconnect the torque converter- flywheel . If she is stuck you got to unstick her. The convertor- flywheel must be removed before you can get to that stubborn rear facing bolt.
I figured there had to be a hidden bolt! Got it out... All I have to say is WHO THE F@CK CAME UP WITH THAT DESIGN?!!!
I've head that Chrysler had a team of mad scientists in a locked room in St Louis to dream up tricks like that. Left hand wheel studs were one of their crowning accomplishments. After being away from Mopars for many years I obtained a really nice old Dodge and decided to rotate the wheels. I cranked on the passenger side and thought that someone had over tightened them so- out came the Ingersoll and I promptly broke 2. Then I remembered that they were Lefty's. I reversed the impact and the rest came off nicely. Went to the drivers side and broke another! Gotta reverse the wrench dummy!
You wouldn't be so quick to criticize if you'd ever lost a wheel off the drivers side of a truck or car with all "normal" thread wheel bolts. The rotation forces tend to tighten all four wheels as you go up the road. Big trucks all have lefties on the left side for that reason. When we worked on old Hemi's back when, we left that bolt out on assembly.
There remains a question of why was that sneaky bolt there in the first place? I have done the same and omitted the bolt on reassembly with no adverse effects. I do not have a clue.
Amen on rotational direction. The new guy at the VW shop forgot to tighten the lugs on a 4 tire sale. (he hand tightened all, but had to 'wait for the torque wrench'...) Customer got 1.5 miles down the frontage road, lost BOTH left wheels, and went into the ditch. Good customer, didn't sue. New guy bought his own torque wrench.
Yep I had always heard that the issue was with lugnuts that were not tightened. I'm thinking that there are about a zillion cars on the road with righty- tighty bolts or nuts on all 4 wheels.
I agree that the thread direction has no bearing on whether the wheels stay on the car or not. "Old Wives Tale" as far as I am concerned. As 270Dodge points out, virtually all vehicle manufacturers have used right hand threads on all wheel positions for decades with no ill effect. Ray
Perhaps some sort of 'strength' concerns given the distance between front and rear mounts in some applications. Maybe just a 'quirk'. Not the first bellhousing with 'interior' bolts. Many, if not most, of the old inline engines, Chev/GMC, Ford, Plymouth and industrial types had bellhousings with a bolts behind (in front!) of the flywheel. All guesses.........I really don't know Apparently it was not anticipated that one would be dealing with super stuck engines half a century or more later. Ray
...pesky engineers.....all wanting stuff to stay bolted together w/o any opportunity for some parts failure... That particular bolt is near the crank centerline along with a similar bolt on the other side. The highest stress on the bolts is at this location. Envision that the top of the block/bell is hinged and you now have a form of lever action creating a substantial tensional force on the two fasteners. That is why they are 7/16 and the rest are 3/8. .
Perhaps on vehicles with a fluid coupling where the engine oil is used ,there is an oil passage that goes from the engine to the bellhousing through the divider plate and it has to be kept tight to prevent leaks?
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