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Bell housing ID Guide Reference
Questions frequently arise around the various bellhousings found in these Jeeps. With the stock V6 the bellhousing looksl like the BOP bellhousing, below left. Chevy bellhousings, below right, are different necessitating changes to be made when mating Buick engines to Chevy transmissions such as the SM420/465 transmissions.
To further confuse the issue Buick 198 V6s may be found in these Jeeps. They have the distributor in front like the 225 and 231 Jeeps but have a different bellhousing pattern than the BOP or Chevy. See bottom row for illustrations. These engines, the 198 V6 and 215 "Fireball" V8 have a much more round bellhousing pattern and lack the valley that the BOP bellhousing has.
Standard BOP (Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac) Bell housing Pattern
Standard Chevy Bellhousing
Buick 198 to T90 Bell housing from the left
198 from the right, note the lack of the "Valley" in the top of the bell housing