Patent ID: 8561283

Claim:
A method of forming a universal bell housing and adapting the universal bell housing such that it capable of joining a desired engine and transmission combination comprising the steps of: forming a universal bell housing by creating a hole through the center of a sheet of steel, placing the sheet on a spin-forming machine, spinning the sheet about the hole, and applying force normal to the sheet, thereby forming a cone having a wide end, a narrow end, and a first height, and forming a flange about the wide end of the cone, the flange extending radially from the axis of rotation of the sheet; said universal bell housing being adaptable to mate a large number of engine and transmission combinations; after the universal bell housing has been formed selecting a profile stored in the memory of a cutting tool that corresponds to an engine model and a transmission model of a desired engine and transmission combination, wherein the profile includes an engine mounting pattern, an engine size, a transmission mounting pattern, and a transmission size; adapting the previously formed universal bell housing to the desired engine and transmission combination by cutting the cone at the narrow end to a second height, wherein the second height corresponds to the selected profile, cutting the flange such that the flange has a profile that corresponds to the engine model, welding a transmission plate onto the narrow end of the cone substantially parallel to the flange, wherein the transmission plate has a profile that corresponds to the transmission model, precisely leveling the transmission plate relative to the flange; machining a hole pattern into the flange that corresponds to the engine mounting pattern, and machining a hole pattern into the transmission plate that corresponds to the transmission mounting pattern.