McLeod Bellhousing Problems!

[R U YELLA]

I am wondering if anybody has had the same problems that I have been dealing with. I bought the McLeod modular shatterproof bellhousing over the Lakewood because I was under the impression that the McLeod would be easier to install and a better fit. Well nothing could be a bigger pain in the a$$ than the McLeod. Here are the problems that I ran into. FYI the engine is a FE 390.

1. Problem: The engine plate fit over the engine dowells perfectly. The behhousing did not. The bellhousing holes did not match up perfectly with the engine plate.
Resolution: I had to ream out the dowell holes 1/16" on each hole.

2. Problem: Where the bolts that hold the bellhousing to the block, the curve of the bellhousing is too close to tighten the bolts down. The bolts start to hit the bellhousing with 1/4" to go. No room for a socket wrench to tighten down.
Resolution: Grind down the spots around the bolts.

3. Problem: There were two plates that attach to the back of the bellhousing. One was a space plate and the other was the mounting plate. The instructions said that all trans other than the T56 need both plates. I installed both. I measured the depth and came out to 6 3/4". I knew that was wrong because that is why I had to do this whole replacement in the first place. The engine came with a cast iron bellhousing but it was 6 3/4" and I was told that was too long for a Toploader trans. So now I have to use only the mounting plate. The problem that I ran into is the plate has a lip all the way around the inside. This lip was hitting the welding marks on the bellhousing.
Resolution: I had to gring all the weld marks down to clear the lip of the mounting plate.

After those two were fixed I had to dial in the bellhousing. I was off .030". OK things are starting to make some progress. Took the bellhousing back off to install the clutch and pressure plate. No problem there. Installed the new TO fork pivot, put the fork in it's place. Reinstalled the bellhousing. Torqued down to specs.

4. Problem: I could not install the TO bearing. The fork is too close to the pressure plate diaphram. Two causes - The fork is hitting the inside corner edge of the bellhousing cutout and the cutout was not deep enough so the fork could not go any further from the pressure plate.
Resolution: More grinding. That will be done tonight.

What will happen next? Stay tuned.

Have any of you run into these problems? I can't imagine so. Let me know.

Thanks
Ed

[48 IDA]

ED,
Why don't you call Mcleods back and speek with Red on their Tech line. He was a lot of help to me with my trans swap.

Don

[outlaw]

Ed,
I had some of the same problems you have. ONE THING YOU DID NOT MENTION WAS THE STARTER. My starter would NOT fit the starter hole and bottom out. I had to knock out the starter "half moon" plate , reposition, because it was not flush, and reweld, then, the starter bolt holes would not line up, so they had to be reamed slightly. Then, the starter would not work because of clearance with the flywheel. MAKE SURE YOU ACTUALLY TURN THE ENGINE OVER WITH THE STARTER BEFORE YOU INSTALL THE ENGINE/BELLHOUSING IN THE CAR. I was very disappointed with the whole thing. I lost lots of build time making a "new part" work. Never again. Its working great now, but only after extensive modification.

outlaw

[Brent Mills]

Hi Ed, I had the same sort of issues with the bellhousing, but, I expected it going in. I'll try to best answer things as I saw them and did them.

1. I think this is mainly due to the fact that they make the bellhousing the same every time, but with varrying years/models of the FE, there is bound to be slight differences in block casting, so you have to expect there to be some alignment issues there.

2. That got me the first time I installed a mcleod. The second time I learned from my buddy Fred Hamilton, who used allen head bolts instead. Perfect!!

3. I only had one plate. As for dialing in, I used the weld in guides (I don't remember what you call them) which requires you to drill out the pilot holes so that you can move the bellhousing into proper position given your dial indicator, and then weld the pilot holes into place. Worked really nicely.

4. Not sure about this one either.

The other thing you will absolutely need to do is use the template (you can find it here or ask David Kirkham) to cut away some of the edge matarial to clear the Kirkham frame. Easiest to do this not attached to the block and certainly NOT after you start installing it in the engine bay.

Hope that helps.

[R U YELLA]

Thanks guys. Brent - I think you have a different BH. Maybe it was the version before the one I bought. Mine was SFI(?) Approved

There was another thread out there but it went by by. This bellhousing was the newest modular from Mcleod. I think that I was the first person to put this on an FE and in a Cobra. I ended up using the cast iron BH that came on the engine because after trying to install the engine there is no F'n way that BH would fit in the car. The top edge was hitting 3" from the bottom of the firewall. The starter bump out is also elongated which would have to be completly ground off to clear the frame. I'll post some pics of the differences between the Mcleod and an FE bellhousing that I ended up using. I have been offered to send it up to the Kirkhams to see if they can make it fit in their mock frame setup. I have also yet to talk to Red from Mcleod about what to do next. I am very frustrated with their support as well. First you call & all they can tell you is that YOU have to modify it! Well that is an easy way out. I need to talk to him some more about this but I have the car running so that is on the back burner.

This is to let everybody know that the MCLEOD MODULAR BELLHOUSING DOES NOT FIT IN A COBRA

This is a pic of the firewall where the BH was hitting it.

[R U YELLA]

Here is a top view. The bolt holes are aligned. You can see how much the Mcleod has extra at the top and wht it was hitting the firewall.

[R U YELLA]

Here is a profile of the two.

[R U YELLA]

Here is a side by side view. You can see how much longer the starter bumpout is on the Mcleod.

[sllib]

Ed;
I'm not trying to highjack your thread, but I had planned to use McLeod's modular bell on my "replica" 351W. Has anyone had similar problems with smallblocks? Thanks.
Bill Stradtner

[R U YELLA]

sllib- there have been no issues with those. Mcleod just came out with the modular for the FE & I was the guinnea pig. I assumed that the modular for the FE was out for awhile but I was wrong. I didn't even ask.

[sllib]

Thanks, Ed. The only reason I had to use the McLeod over the Lakewood was that I'm using their double plate clutch set and alum. flywheel. Maybe I'll just stick to ole' faithful Lakewood. Good luck with your problem.
Bill Stradtner

[R U YELLA]

I was thinking of trying one more time with the fit as I am going to be taking out the trans, clutch & flywheel to try & locate an oil leak from the back of the block. I have already replaced the rear seal twice now so I have no choice to really find where the leak is coming from. Anyway... I thought that a reason why the Mcleod would not fit is beacuse I tried to install the engine & trans at the same time so I thought that if I pull the trans then why not give it a shot. I thought that I should take some measurements just to get started. It is a good thing I did. All it took was one measurement to realize that it it still wouldn't fit. I measured the distance from the back of the block to the firewall and the mCleod bellhousing is more than 1/2" too long. Oh well. This is not to say that it won't work in other Cobras but in a Kirkham it won't.

Later
Ed

[DaveR]

I had many of the same issues but expected them going in, par for the course when building a Cobra. I cut and extended a stock fork because Mcleod's are so expensive, and that probably helped me avoid the TO clearance issues. I was a little surpised that my starter wouldn't fit, and had to weld on a 3/8" spacer, with the positive being a perfect fit to the flywheel. Checking the starter by turning over the engine before it is buttoned up is good advice, I did it several times to make sure. Also, I never had any luck contacting tech support by phone, and tried many times. With that said, I don't know if Lakewood would have been any better.

[R U YELLA]

For all of you out there, you need to know that the small block & big block bellhousings are different. What I am trying to let everyone know is that the BB bellhousing WILL NOT FIT!!

[Frank Messina]

Seems like the fitment issues with these bellhousings are almost like one of the features. My condolences to you FE guys. I chose a McLeod for my Windsor motor as the prevailing opinion at the time was that the Lakewood was a worse fit if you can imagine that. Also, McLeod is within spitting distance so I thought that might come in handy. Well it did, as the thing wouldn't mount up to the block, and the starter hole was jacked up, so I tossed it in the trunk and marched over to McLeod. That was an experience, but it worked out okay in the end because I got a new backing plate and I learned exactly what the hangup issues are and what to do about them. The problem with the backing plates is that their supplier doesn't always weld the crescent in the starter hole correctly. A lot of the time it's in there cockeyed which results in starter misalignment, and no ring gear engagment, etc. If you inspect the backing plate before installation, the crescent should be flate in relation to the backing plate. If it isn't, pound it flat with a BFH. Next, the points of the crescent should transition smoothly into the radius of the starter hole. It's not uncommon for one end to stick up a bit. If it's only a little, you can just grind the point off. If it's really a mess, you can send it back to Mcleod for a new one, or so they say. The other issue is that the dowel holes may need to be reamed. Mine were so undersized it wasn't funny. I used a hand held 1/2" drill and bit to start off, then followed it up with a light touch with a rat tail file on the high spots. Even with all this, for a Windsor motor, the McLeod is still probably the best thing out there. If you know about this stuff going in, it's really not all that hard to deal with before the engine is in the car. HTH somebody.
Frank

[Roushrocket]

I just installed a Mcleod scattershield on a Roush 427R and had no problems. Less grinding than using a tremec aluminum housing.

[R U YELLA]

Roushrocket - That 427R is a SB isn't it? Please look 3 posts up!

[Woodz428]

I used a Mcleod flywheel on the 428 in the roadster, I will never use their products again. The Flywheel had been improperly balanced, fortunately I was having the engine balanced and it was caught. When I addressed the problem with Red in their customer relations dept., prior to checking it with the weight on a stock flywheel, he informed me it was IMPOSSIBLE that could have happened and blamed the balancer for being incompetent. The balancer corrected it and when he moved the weight, it was in the Exact spot that the factory one was placed, so much for an incompetent balancer. I am still awaiting (over a year and half now, must be part of the Shelby organization) the payment for the extra cost to have it balanced as promised by the above Red when I sent j-pegs of the factory screw up. Screw them.