Another Resto Question -- Bell Housing

[SS427]

This has been an ongoing debate on many sites. I have several factory photos of the Tonawanda engine plant. It seems (on big blocks) from that plant that the bellhousing was mounted at the time the engine was painted. The survivor big blocks that I have documented showed the bellhousing with a 4-6" band around the flange area. When they sprayed the back of the block, they oversprayed the bellhousing, clutch fork, and pressure plate. I just recently retored and documented a survivor LS-6's and it was done exactly that way. It seems as though it was a Tonawanda thing as I believe Flint didn't have the bellhousing mounted when painted. However, small blocks could be a different story.