Bellhousing Alignment Questions

[blykins]

1. Lakewood's tolerance is .005". Has anyone had trouble with their trannies with this little of a misalignment?
2. Would you recommend getting it closer?
3. If I weld the offset dowels on, could there be any problems with welding and the ignition box still in place and wired up? The car is not complete, so there is not a ground strap from the engine to the frame. If this would be a problem, would it be sufficient to ground the engine to the frame with a jumper cable...?
4. How many times have you had to use offset dowels with a Lakewood?


Answers do not necessarily have to be in that order....hehehe....

[blykins]

Two more questions...what is better to use....the offset dowel or the bellhousing locating kit?

Also, if you actually move the bellhousing that small amount one way or the other, wouldn't it cause a problem with threads on the bellhousing bolts?

[Steve Dickey]

Blykins,
I had much better luck with welding on the collars to locate the pins in the bellhousing. There is no problem with the threads on the bolts as the holes in the bellhousing are oversize. Just for safe measure, I would disconnect your MSD box. The closer you can get to zero runout the better. I would also invest a little time making a jig to hold your dial indicator. It is simple to do and makes the job much easier. If you send me your e-mail address I'll send you a picture.
Good luck, Steve

[blykins]

Hey Steve....

brentlykins@earthlink.net

Didn't you have any luck with just unbolting two flywheel bolts and sitting the dial indicator in there?

[Steve Dickey]

Brent,
I have an FE so things may be a little different. I've heard it can be done, but lets say I have a whole new appreciation for anyone that did it accurately that way, especially in the car. I'll send you some pictures. Steve

[blykins]

Thanks a lot for your help Steve.

[Bud Man]

Brent:

I agree with Steve that using positioning collars is a viable alternative to Lakewoods offset pins, but it is my understanding that if you do ANY welding to the Lakewood it will void the SFI certification. In the event that you experience a clutch or flywheel explosion and it didn't hold, you may have no recourse. Perhaps more enlightened folks on this forum can comment.

Finding mainshaft concentricity is not one of the more pleasant tasks of these projects, but as Steve said, the closer to zero you can get the better. I have actually heard that .003 or better is desirable to eliminate problems.

Good Luck!

Bud

[blykins]

It seems like using the dowels would be easier to me....but of course I've never done either one. You just remove the old dowels, stick the new ones in, and turn them....right? I'd say if the engine were out of the car and there was no ignition box...and you happened to have a mig laying around, the locating kit would be easier. But mine just happens to be in the car...with everything needed to run the engine installed.

You made a good point, Bud...about the SFI certification.

I was noticing that they offer dowels in .007", .014", and .021" offsets. They are tunable right? Do you have to use a full .007" for instance, or can you turn them like a cam? What if your bellhousing was just .004" off...what would you do?

[craigayl]

Steve

Can you send me that pic to? craigayl@comcast.net

I'll be pulling my engine next week and the Lakewood bellhousing alignment is on my to-do list. I don't know that I have a clutch problem, from misalignment, but I do have a starter problem. It is too far from the flywheel and is pretty loud when cranking. If the bellhousing is OK, I'm going to have to move one of the starter mounting holes to get it a little closer to the flywheel.

Also, just to see what others think….. I have a 514, Tremec and a 12” clutch, now with 10,000 miles. Quick shifts are difficult at high rpms. One more reason I’m checking the bellhousing alignment. In addition, I’m going to replace the 12” clutch with a 10.5” to reduce the rotational inertia.

Any other thoughts?

Craig

[mr0077]

Craig, there was a thread awhile back with a few folks (including me) grousing about slow shifting above 5000 rpm with Centerforce clutches...they sure don't slip, but not so good for drag racing...what brand are you running?

[blykins]

I've always heard that the Tremecs were a little harder to shift anyway...especially TKO's....I've heard that instead of using cone synchronizers they use clutch packs....anyone know if this is true?

Also, on a side note...I've been going through several websites looking at different methods for checking concentricity. I know Lakewood recommends turning the crank through 1 complete rev, getting the total movement of the dial indicator (i.e. -.006 to .007 would be a total of .013") and then dividing by 2 to get the final runout...which in this case would be .0065".

Another website I found said to rotate the crank through 90 degrees, look at the dial indicator and see what it says, then mark the reading on the bellhousing itself, then repeat this every 90. The largest number is the one you wanna use.

Can someone shine some light on this subject....I wanna get this right the first time....because it's a pain in the butt. I had a Lakewood previously when I thought I was gonna use a TKO...I used the first method...found the total range and divided by 2. I think I got .005" when I divided by 2, and that happened to be within tolerance, so I didn't touch it. But now that I'm using a Toploader, I bought another bellhousing, and I wanna make sure it's right.

[craigayl]

mr0077

My clutch is a McLeod. I am very happy with the clutch action. No binding at high rpm and no slipping problems. In fact, drag racing, I have found I run best with a 2nd gear launch. No complains from the clutch. I just think the 12” friction disk may be a little too heavy.

blykins

The Tremec uses cone style synchronizers. No clutches. Some good info at http://www.hanlonmotorsports.com/

Craig

[Steve Dickey]

Craig,
You bet, I'll send you a pict.

Brent,
I thought about voiding the cert as well. I found it interesting that Lakewood sells the collars (and longer dowels) to be welded on to the bellhousing. I initially bought the offset dowels and played with them but could not dial everything in as well as I would like. It was kind of like chasing your tail. Using the weld on collars I gently snugged up on all the bolts and tapped the bellhousing flange with a hammer in the exact direction I wanted it to go and in a matter of minutes had it centered. Using the offset dowels I screwed around for about one or two hours and gave up. Let us know how things work out.
Steve

[Steve Dickey]

One other thought- if you remove the bellhousing with the collars welded on in the correct spot it will go right back on in alignment. I checked several times. If you use the offset dowels you had better make sure they stay indexed properly and don't turn.
Steve

[blykins]

Thanks for all your help, Steve.

Does anyone have any theories on which method of measuring is the best?

[craigayl]

Blykins

This is a good article on dialing in your bellhousing

http://www.priveye.com/images/lakewood.htm

Craig