Bolts missing --> Cracked 904 case

So I am finally getting back to work on my 73 Dart Sport. 318/904/8 3/4"


Here is a quick run down on what is going on here.

When I first got the car, it had a bad driveline vibration that the previous owner thought was u-joint/drive shaft related.

I first checked underneath to find both U-joints were tight, one even looked new, then I spotted that the rubber in the trans mount was shredded. I did not see anything else amiss at this point.

So I picked up a polyurethane trans mount and put that sucker in. The car felt noticeably better already but there was still a driveline vibration.

I took the drive shaft to a reputable shop in my area and had it balanced at the cost of 40 bucks. This did not help the car at all and the vibration continued. I only took the car out for a couple short blasts around town every other weekend or so, as highway driving was far from smooth and something else was obviously wrong with the car.

While under the car draining the engine oil, I noticed transmission fluid dripping from the pan and figured it needed a new pan gasket. A couple moments later I spotted something odd about the flexplate, as it looked to be aftermarket, I took a closer look. Only to find that the flexplate was badly cracked in multiple places. Hmmmm.

As I proceeded to eye up the situation, I noticed something that gave me the "Aha!" moment I had been looking for. There were a couple bolts missing from the transmission bell-housing to engine and there was a 1/4" gap between the two on the passenger side! I finished the oil change and took a look from up top. There were more bolts missing up here as well! Turned out that only three bolts were holding the engine and trans together, the two starter bolts, and one above those two.#-o

I gathered some bolts and bolted everything up, backed it out of the garage, and parked it in the car port for when I could get to dropping the transmission.

I finally got time to remove the transmission from the car and replace the destroyed flexplate. The car fired right up, I backed it into the street, did a quick little burnout to lift my spirits, and drove the car into the garage.

Got the trans dropped and voila! A huge crack in the case along the casting line where the pump mounts... It was now time to tear the trans apart.

I had a 904 in the corner with a smoked kickdown band to use for parts and the case so that worked out well for me. I have not rebuilt a torqueflite yet but my friend who has some experience with them helped my inspect all the internals. The best parts from the two are now all laid out ready to go, I will be ordering my seals/clutches/steels next week.

I do have a small block 727 in the shed I could just built instead but the torque converter that was in the car is a TCI 142300 which is not a cheap converter, and the car did work well with it. So I am sticking with the 904 setup. My new b&m flex-plate came in the mail and it is ready to install.

I am kind of paranoid that bolts are just going to start falling out now, and plan on using locktite on the converter bolts, but should I use locktite on the flexplate to crank bolts? Should I use locktite on the engine to trans bolts, lockwashers on the bolts, or both?

Thanks for reading about my silly problem. Here are some more pictures..

I put a flashlight inside the case on one of the below pics to better show the crack in my piece of scrap aluminum.
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Thanks for reading/looking.