Posted by Chris (IP: 209.30.122.91) on November 07, 1999 at 23:05:39:
I helped my friend put his engine back in his '78 dodge pickup (318/manual), and get this: Dodge made the flywheel too big to fit in the opening of the bellhousing. We originally had trouble getting the engine off of the tranny, and when it was pried, it left DEEP tears in the bellhousing. On the inside, it was machined out so that the flywheel would have plenty of room. We tried filing down the bellhousing a little to squeeze it through....no such luck!
Eventually what we had to do was unbolt the bellhousing and drop it OVER the flywheel, clutch, etc. I just can't believe dodge didn't realize that people were going to be rebuilding the engines in a few years....