C1 & C2 Corvettes General C1 Corvette & C2 Corvette Discussion, Technical Info, Performance Upgrades, Project Builds, Restorations

Bell housing installation amd alignment

Old 06-06-2008, 07:13 PM
  #1  
beto
Racer
Thread Starter
 
beto's Avatar
 
Member Since: Sep 2005
Location: Queretaro Qro
Posts: 388
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts

Default Bell housing installation amd alignment

I have seen here before a complete and detailed bell housing alignment procedure with lots and lots of pictures....now that I need it, guess if I can find it....have searched the archives for hours with no results....

Does anyone knows where this thread is or have the lots and lots of pictures saved up somewhere? It would really help me out.

Thanks,

Luiz
Old 06-06-2008, 09:29 PM
  #2  
buns
Safety Car
 
buns's Avatar
 
Member Since: Feb 2006
Posts: 4,142
Received 690 Likes on 537 Posts

Default

How about a short movie while you wait for the Main Feature:




Old 06-07-2008, 07:13 AM
  #3  
Black_Magic
Safety Car

 
Black_Magic's Avatar
 
Member Since: Jun 2000
Location: St. Louis MO
Posts: 4,693
Received 447 Likes on 205 Posts
2020 Corvette of the Year (appearance mods)
C2 of Year Winner (appearance mods) 2019
CI 4-5-7-9-10-11 Car Show Winner
CI 2-3-4-5-6-7-9-10-11 Vet

Default

Here's another video ====>> Bellhousing Alignment

George
Old 06-07-2008, 10:32 AM
  #4  
Lee H
Burning Brakes
Support Corvetteforum!
 
Lee H's Avatar
 
Member Since: Feb 2003
Location: Upland Ca
Posts: 1,124
Received 1 Like on 1 Post

Default

If your using a GM bell housing you don't need to do it. I have never seen a GM housing even close the the outer specs. Now if your car is unknown and the BH pins have been messed with, thats a different story.
Old 06-08-2008, 05:05 PM
  #5  
beto
Racer
Thread Starter
 
beto's Avatar
 
Member Since: Sep 2005
Location: Queretaro Qro
Posts: 388
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts

Default

New 540cc engine with Lakewood bellhousing. For what I understand, there is not Lakewood housing that comes close to being within spec. If I knew this beforehand, I would have purchased a McLeod....they make sure every one of their housings are within alignment. Got the procedure already (found a PDF on the web) and will soon be checking the alignment. Will post the results....thanks for the videos, very nice.

Luiz
Old 06-08-2008, 06:15 PM
  #6  
decarmine
Instructor
 
decarmine's Avatar
 
Member Since: Aug 2006
Location: Lecanto FL
Posts: 243
Received 4 Likes on 4 Posts

Default

Don't forget alignment is not only a function of the bell housing, but also of the pins in the block. Just because the BH is within spec doesn't mean the pins in the block are...
Old 06-08-2008, 06:48 PM
  #7  
AZDoug
Race Director
 
AZDoug's Avatar
 
Member Since: Oct 2005
Location: Camp Verde AZ
Posts: 12,434
Received 1,478 Likes on 905 Posts
C1 of Year Finalist (performance mods) 2019
2017 C1 of Year Finalist

Default

540 CC. A little small, don't you think? My motor is 6995 cc's....

Lakewood bells are notorious for being out of spec. They blame the need for alignment on sloppy pin hole location in the block, which that is a bunch of crap, rather than their lack of being able to get the bell housing holes in the correct location, GM didn't send out of spec blocks out door, and with their tooling setups, i would suspect it would almost impossible to drill the pin holes in the wrong places in the block.

Doug
Old 06-08-2008, 07:46 PM
  #8  
beto
Racer
Thread Starter
 
beto's Avatar
 
Member Since: Sep 2005
Location: Queretaro Qro
Posts: 388
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts

Default

Originally Posted by AZDoug
540 CC. A little small, don't you think? My motor is 6995 cc's....

Lakewood bells are notorious for being out of spec. They blame the need for alignment on sloppy pin hole location in the block, which that is a bunch of crap, rather than their lack of being able to get the bell housing holes in the correct location, GM didn't send out of spec blocks out door, and with their tooling setups, i would suspect it would almost impossible to drill the pin holes in the wrong places in the block.

Doug
A typo that made sense....but shrunk my engine...540CI...just shy of 8,800cc's.

The bellhousing was a package deal with the transmission....keisler should not recommend this bellhousing knowing that we, the customer, will go through a lot of trouble not just to align the darn thing but also to make sure it is parallel. I have also heard that the Lakewook bellhousing also have a .004 play on the transmission side which means I have to be within a total of .006 on the engine side in order to ensure the .005 total play recommended by Tremec

This will be fun....

Luiz
Old 06-08-2008, 09:23 PM
  #9  
1snake
Le Mans Master
 
1snake's Avatar
 
Member Since: Dec 2007
Location: Puget Sound
Posts: 8,000
Received 652 Likes on 446 Posts

Default

My McLeod bellhousing came with a sticker that showed the run-out specs. After I mounted it, I got the exact same readings. I've heard nothing but horror stories about aligning Lakewood bellhousings.

Jim
Old 06-09-2008, 08:38 AM
  #10  
rj8806
Melting Slicks
 
rj8806's Avatar
 
Member Since: May 2005
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 2,826
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes on 3 Posts

Default

Please allow me to clear up some bad information floationg around on this thread....

First of all, if you are installing a TKO, you MUST do the bell housing run out. I believe it was LEE H who states that if you use a GM bell you didn't have to do the procedure. That is absolutely FALSE.

Someone else stated that the Mcleod bells are "Pre-dialed" in. There is no way ANYONE can say their bell housing doesn't need to be dialed in. The reason why is because there are 3 factors that determine your run out.....The engine to bell mating surface, the bell itself and the dowel pins in the block. How can anyone claim there bell doesn't need to be dialed in unless they are selling the engine to you as well?

Here is a for instance for you...Our GM 621 reproduction bells are machined to within .002" of factory specs. That means that all the bolt holes, starter pocket, register hole and surfaces are machined to within .002 of factory specs. The Mcleod bell may be machined in a similar fashion but to say it doesn't need to be dialed in is just plain ridiculous.

Please, please, please...if you are installing a TKO, do yourself a favor and do the run out procedure no matter what anyone tries to tell you.


Richard

Last edited by rj8806; 06-09-2008 at 08:49 AM.
Old 06-09-2008, 08:52 AM
  #11  
rj8806
Melting Slicks
 
rj8806's Avatar
 
Member Since: May 2005
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 2,826
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes on 3 Posts

Default

Originally Posted by beto
A typo that made sense....but shrunk my engine...540CI...just shy of 8,800cc's.

The bellhousing was a package deal with the transmission....keisler should not recommend this bellhousing knowing that we, the customer, will go through a lot of trouble not just to align the darn thing but also to make sure it is parallel. I have also heard that the Lakewook bellhousing also have a .004 play on the transmission side which means I have to be within a total of .006 on the engine side in order to ensure the .005 total play recommended by Tremec

This will be fun....

Luiz

It's not that we "recommend" it or not. We offer it for you guys wanting a scattershield. In fact, I hear the sales guys warning people that the Lakewood is notorious for being out if align and the need for using offset pins more often than not.


Richard
Tech Support
Old 06-09-2008, 09:59 AM
  #12  
ToolMaker427
Melting Slicks
Support Corvetteforum!
 
ToolMaker427's Avatar
 
Member Since: Apr 2007
Location: White Mountains NH
Posts: 3,379
Received 6 Likes on 6 Posts

Default

Originally Posted by rj8806
Please allow me to clear up some bad information floationg around on this thread....

First of all, if you are installing a TKO, you MUST do the bell housing run out. I believe it was LEE H who states that if you use a GM bell you didn't have to do the procedure. That is absolutely FALSE.

Someone else stated that the Mcleod bells are "Pre-dialed" in. There is no way ANYONE can say their bell housing doesn't need to be dialed in. The reason why is because there are 3 factors that determine your run out.....The engine to bell mating surface, the bell itself and the dowel pins in the block. How can anyone claim there bell doesn't need to be dialed in unless they are selling the engine to you as well?

Here is a for instance for you...Our GM 621 reproduction bells are machined to within .002" of factory specs. That means that all the bolt holes, starter pocket, register hole and surfaces are machined to within .002 of factory specs. The Mcleod bell may be machined in a similar fashion but to say it doesn't need to be dialed in is just plain ridiculous.

Please, please, please...if you are installing a TKO, do yourself a favor and do the run out procedure no matter what anyone tries to tell you.


Richard

I bought a Lakewood shield for a 468 I built that was going to spin 7500+ rpm between shifts.
After checking both warped mounting surfaces we had it Blanchard ground.
Not over yet though. The alignment pin holes had to be "moved" to
center the transmision correctly. The last couple of thou. came in during assembly.
Old 06-09-2008, 10:53 AM
  #13  
Black_Magic
Safety Car

 
Black_Magic's Avatar
 
Member Since: Jun 2000
Location: St. Louis MO
Posts: 4,693
Received 447 Likes on 205 Posts
2020 Corvette of the Year (appearance mods)
C2 of Year Winner (appearance mods) 2019
CI 4-5-7-9-10-11 Car Show Winner
CI 2-3-4-5-6-7-9-10-11 Vet

Default

Originally Posted by Lee H
If your using a GM bell housing you don't need to do it. I have never seen a GM housing even close the the outer specs. Now if your car is unknown and the BH pins have been messed with, thats a different story.
I used a GM bellhousing "403" and it was at the MAX limit .005 when I mated it up with a NEW ZZ4 crate engine. I would say that is pretty close to the outer specs which is .005 MAX

Get notified of new replies

To Bell housing installation amd alignment



Thread Tools
Search this Thread
Quick Reply: Bell housing installation amd alignment



All times are GMT -4. The time now is 09:28 PM.