Posted by: Rus Curtis
« on: November 02, 2026, 04:45:00 PM »i just found a peep hole on the dust cover from the front (passenger side of the engine) . it looks to be that 's how you set the timing on my 48. my 48 doesn't have a indicator on the timing cover. the trans is out, i have yet to pull the clutch and fly wheel
Neat trick. Looks like you embedded your response inside a quote! I think I extracted your post.
That inspection window is for timing. If I understand correctly, there are marks on the flywheel itself that help with setting the timing. From what I gather over on the 2A forum, it's not easy. Most say they static time and then when running, use dwell or vacuum. But that's another tangent.
You may very well have the older starter setup where there's a bushing in the bell housing (behind the starter bendix drive) and if so, that would most likely identify the older ring gear with fewer teeth.
<putting my guessing hat on> With the similarites between so many components, I would assume any of the flywheels would bolt up to the crankcase flange. I would also assume the clutches, of the same size, would bolt onto any of the flywheels (the mounting holes would have to be spaced for the size clutch). I would also assume any one of the flywheel housings would mount to the engine block, with maybe some exceptions on mounting holes. To me, that leaves the ring gear and the starter that have limitations.
Probably the easiest way to tell would be to pull the starter. If the starter bendix is fully contained in that "half cone" end, then you have the later version starter and the higher count ring gear (129). If the starter has a shaft exposed beyond the bidex gear, it requires the earlier flywheel housing and the lower count ring gear (97 teeth).
The disclaimer here is there's others that know more about this than me without the guessing.