bahamasair

Hi guys, I'm trying to get my Mcleod bellhousing centered with my crank and the measurements I get are
12 o clock= 0 6 o clock= -.011 9 o clock= -.013 3 o clock=.003 so I figure 12-6=.011 and 9-3=.016 so I'm looking at .007 offset dowels but will I be able to make up the 12-6 difference with them too? I'm assuming I will have to clock the dowels so they are at an angle to move the bellhousing over and up. I think the tko trans I'm using calls for .005 or under from the center of the crank. I guess I just want to make sure my math is ok before I go and order the dowels.
Thanks for any help

MotorHead

Wish I could help you out. I bought a Mcleod bellhousing because I thought they would be machined better than Lakewood. Mine didn't dial in very well at all.

I ended up putting my stock GM bellhousing from my L48 on my aftermarket Motown block and it dialed in perfect IMHO Mcleod stuff should be better for the money you pay I won't be buying anything from them again. Sorry to vent but at least it will go to the top

JFYI .005" is .010" overall so if you zero at 12 oclock and rotate and the dial does not move more than .010" ( in one direction either + or - ) you are OK This is how I do it anyway

AzMotorhead

Send that one back and order a bellhousing from Quicktime. Garauntee you wont be having to use any alignment dowels

dmaaero

Looks like to me the bellhousing is .008 over to the left and .0055 low,

bahamasair

I wish I could send it back. I got the Mcleod for the same reason as Motorhead. I read that it was more accurate than the Lakewood. Mine was so crap that the gold coating was half flaked off when I took it out of the box. I ended up having to sand it all off and paint the POS. Whatever was wrong with the coating was pretty strange too, after I finished sanding it it sounded like a bowl of rice crispies and when I looked closely there were hundreds of tiny pin holes appearing as pieces of the coating popped off. Ill never buy anything from them again either.

TheSkunkWorks

Wow! I've always heard McL was the good stuff, but believe I'll be reusing my old LW again after hearing these stories.

BB72

My Mcloed bellhousing came with a pre-dialed in sticker on the top of the housing. It dialed in pretty close. It's definately a lot of playing around.

bahamasair

Well I got the dowels and now my bellhousing is all over the place. I could spin the passenger side dowel without having to touch the other side and after looking closer at the dowel holes in the bellhousing the passenger side has all kinds of space on one side of the dowel. I'm guessing this bell has to go in the garbage?
Here is a pic of the gap

MotorHead

I've never used the dowels but they should be offcenter so you put them both in, in the same orientation, that might still leave a small gap but it should be solid with no movement and the bellhousing should be in the position you want it now ?

Maybe others with experience doing this can help

gkull

your .0055 low is right

But the hole in the bell housing has to be wrong to get a -.013 and +.003

I would fine sand any paint off of the hole. Remeasure and then dial it in within the allowable of under .003 or what ever the spec is.

rj8806

You should clock the high side of the .007 pins toward the 2:00 position and this should bring you in close. You may have to fine tune it a little but that'll be darn close. Right now the center of the bell is shifted towards the 7:00 position and needs to go back up and to the right (towards the 1:00-2:00).
Make sure you roll the pins on a flat surface to determine the high side before trying to install them. I usually lay them on a table and roll them. Once I find the high side, mark the high side with a Sharpie marker or similar and then turn the mark towards the 1:00-2:00 position and you should be real close.

There is no such thing as a pre-dialed in bell housing unless the company you bought it from had your engine block and dowel pins in hand when they builtyour bell housing. Sending it back and buying a Quick Time WILL NOT guarantee you have no mis-alignment.
The mis-aligment is determined from the bell housing, engine block and the dowel pins together. Without all 3 in hand, there is no guarantee.




Richard
Tech Support

TheSkunkWorks

I'm probably not the only one thinking, "Now, why hadn't I given that more thought already."

BB72

There is no such thing as a pre-dialed in bell housing unless the company you bought it from had your engine block and dowel pins in hand when they builtyour bell housing.

I thought it was odd, I've seen Mcloed bellhousings on thier site with the same sticker I had. Maybe they just tried to fit it on an engine and wrote numbers on the sticker. I dialed mine anyways, can never be too careful.

bahamasair

There is so much slop in the holes for the dowels there is no way any offset will help. If I measure everything and then remove and reinstall the bellhousing the measurements are totally different every time. I'm in the process of widening the dowel holes and making up a couple of 1/4" steel washers and will align everything perfectly then weld them to the bell.
gkull I agree on the out of round but there is no paint in the opening it has a machined ring that is removable so I'm guessing its not machined properly.

Smith

I would get the Coleman bell housing alignment set up for this. I do not have the part number but you should be able to find it.

Steel tends to be worse then aluminum.

It works great and any one can get the bell housing prefect. I Use in the race car and I would never go back to any other system.

Sorry the race car is an American Sedan 3rd Gen Camaro and not a corvette. I race against a guy that some of you might have heard of John Heinracy. He is pretty fast. Never beat him but I have out qualified him.

dmaaero

I corrected my above post for your original readings, you had it figured right. You can also do the sides the same way you did the top an bottom. Just zero your indicator on one side an read the other side. Once you get it centered, welding the washers in place sounds like a great idea,

rj8806

Were the holes cast too large? Theorectically, you should be able to install a bell housing, do the alignment procedure, remove the bell and then re-install again and get the same readings each time.
If the bell housing dowel pin holes are too large to begin with, it would be impossible to get an accurate dial indicated reading.

I like your idea of the washers and believe that will work just fine. Once that is accomplished, and you re-check the aligment, if the numbers come up the same (.000 at 12:00, -.013 at 9:00, -.011 at 6:00 and .003 at 3:00) then the bell is still shifted to the left and downward and needs to go back up and to the right to bring it in center.




Richard
Tech Support

bahamasair

Hi Richard. Yes one of the holes was way to big. My measurements will be perfect after I weld the washers since the idea is to tighten the bolts till they are snug and tap the bellhousing with a mallet until I'm reading 0 at 12 3 6 and 9 o-clock then weld the washers onto the housing.