trans-to-bell hsg mounting question

[jocko]

Just noticed the oddest thing - was under the truck to grab one of the 1/2"-13 trans-to-bell mounting bolts (chev 3 speed to 283 arrangement) so I could run to home depot and grab so loonger bolts to help slide the trans in/out - and noticed that of the 4 mounting bolts, the top 2 were inserted from the rear-to-front (i.e. thru trans into the bell orientation - which is what I expected all 4 to be like) but the bottom 2 were inserted from front to rear (i.e. inside the bell hsg side first then thru the bell and into the trans mounting ears). In other words, when I was behind the transmission looking forward - the bottom of the 2 bottom bolts wetre showing, not the heads.

Is this normal?

Also, does it mean the bottom 2 bell housing bolts holes are NOT threaded and that the 3-speed mounting ears are threaded??

Hmmmm.
Thanks, assuming someone has seen this before, but if nobody has, I'm curious what the bottom 2 bolts are actually threaded into, if anything... It appears that the trans has the 2 lower mounting bosses threaded - which worries me because if they are, then the bell hsg must not be - and I'm getting ready to swap transmissions and use the stock bell hsg. If the 1/2" bolts go THRU the bell and the threads are in the trans, then that bell hsg is gonna be junk for the new trans (T5). Never seen a mounting setup like this on a manual trans.