What's this hole doing in my engine?!

[impboy]

I got all ambitious and decided to change the spark plugs on my '01 Box. As I was under the car cursing how tight everything is and taking forever to get the allen head bolts off the coil, I noticed this hole on the driver's side of the engine. From a distance it looked threaded until I reached way up in there and felt around and could feel that it was smooth.

I stick my finger in there and could feel some kind of metal but what, I don't know. All I know is that this doesn't look right and I'm guessing some kind of plug is missing. Please look at the pics and let me know what it is I'm looking at and any advice about fixing it if it needs it.

Thanks in advance!
evan

[GoodJohnny]

Looks Like That's The Transmission Bell Housing. In Your 1st Pic, Lower Left Corner I See A Vw Mark. Do You Agree. I'm Still Looking, But Here's A Picture From Our Online Repair Stuff. See If It's You... Maybe A Fluid Fill Plug? Have You Had The Trans Serviced Recently?

MAYBE NOT A FILL PLUG, MAYBE INSPECTION PLUG.

[Brucelee]

Man, I LOVE that MGA. Always did love them, esp in Red.

Nice

[jmatta]

Not a mechanic, but I think that is an inspection hole, as well...they don't have plugs.

I agree the MGA is a pretty car...values have come up, as well. A friend was looking at one several years back and ended up buying a TR3 instead; red, of course (hides all evils).

[impboy]

I guess I should have been more specific....
When I said "engine" I meant the transmission. No, I haven't had the transmission worked on recently so I was a bit worried that some plug or such had come loose and is currently laying in some pancake shaped mess on the highway somewhere. It just seems odd that a hole would be uncovered in the housing.

Thanks for all the kind words about the MGA. A completely different car than the Box but I love them both. The MGA just recently had the engine rebuilt with an aluminum "B" head (bigger valves), custom JE 2 ring pistons, lightened flywheel, Maniflo exhaust system that was Jet-Hot coated, and a Piper 270/272 camshaft.

I went from about 50 hp (due to some badly recessed valve seats) to about 100 - 110. In a car that only weighs around 2k pounds, that's a BIG difference. Gotta love all that torque in such a small car.

The Box and MGA...
1. Not a straight line on the car - lots of nice, big curves around the body.
2. My butt is about 6 inches from the pavement. Think go kart on steroids.
3. Top down on a beautiful San Diego day.
4. Twisty roads are my friend!
5. They stick like glue so neither ends up off one of those twisty roads.
6. Fun, fun, fun, fun......and more fun!