Dialing in aftermarket T56 bellhousing?

[birdie2000]

So, after seeing Fox Slaughter's posts about needing to dial-in his new aftermarket bellhousing on his LT1 T56, it has me worried about mine. His is a Quicktime and looks like it can be dialed in. When I got my McLeod, there were instructions that did mention dialing in the bellhousing, but the instructions were universal and my kit didn't come with the shims and such mentioned in the instructions, plus I didn't see anywhere to actually measure this on mine, so I just installed it as is.

Now, can anyone tell me exactly where/how I would measure it on mine? Doesn't the measurement have to be taken on the flange that bolts to the transmission? I don't see how it's possible on this...



I'm secretly hoping there's nothing I can do about this because I REALLY don't want to have to pull my transmission now that the car's finally 99% together, but I also don't want my brand new Liberty T56 getting eaten up either.

[1BADAIR]

I heard McLeod wants you to buy a $200 plate to be able to check it.

[Nocooler]

I think you can pull the trans front plate off and then bolt that to the bell housing. Then you can use the that to indicate it in.

Search over on LS1tech - there was a thread about this.

[birdie2000]

wtf? really?

1.) If that's the case, they should mention that somewhere in the instructions, on the forum, etc. I can't even find a reference to such a plate anywhere let alone a part number or price.
2.) Since you'd have to bolt that on (I'd assume), wouldn't the tolerances throw off the measurement? I mean, we're talking about measuring a maximum variation of 0.005", right? I would think that just unbolting the measurement plate and bolting it back up again could cause it to shift that much...

edit: Just saw the last response. I did search on LS1tech last night quite a bit and didn't really find anything. That's some bullshit if so.

[birdie2000]

Do people do this with a factory bellhousing too? I mean, according to what I'm reading, as soon as you do an align bore on the engine it could throw this off. There are tons of rebuilt LT1s out there and I can't say I've ever heard of someone doing this to their bellhousing.

[farmington]

Aftermarket bellhousings have had to be dialed in since they were first made many years ago.

[Nocooler]

Your basically checking to see if they made the part correctly. There can be alignment issues with factory pieces too.

It's up to you if you want to run it. It's like degree'ing a cam - some will tell you it's mandatory and others will say dot-dot and run it.

[Nocooler]

This thread should get you started - http://ls1tech.com/forums/manual-tra...llhousing.html

[birdie2000]

Thanks. I understand the purpose and have heard of it being done on other cars/aftermarket bellhousings just never anything specific to these cars. I just can't believe if it's so important that they wouldn't include a way to do this in the design of their bellhousing or at the very least give you specific instructions as to how to accomplish this with the bellhousing as-is. Having to buy a $200 plate to do this is ridiculous IMO, especially when such a part is never mentioned in the instructions nor does their website have any reference to it.

[JoeliusZ28]

wow, this makes me not want to change mine.

[Nocooler]

The lack of instructions is a fail on their end.

Joel - it's not that big of deal - it's well worth it to know you'll have your feet after a 6500 clutch drop

[1BADAIR]

http://m.ls1tech.com/forums/showthread.php?p=13423634
http://m.ls1tech.com/forums/showthre...177&styleid=25

[birdie2000]

Thanks Larry. I've actually seen both of those threads. Unfortunately though, neither gives me much information about how to get this resolved. Needing a $200 plate and not mentioning it anywhere is a huge fail on McLeod's part. I'd spend the money on a Quicktime next time for just that reason since they actually give you a bore to measure against. In fact, the only person with actual experience that I saw commented in those threads said he just threw it on with no ill-effects. I'm not saying that's right, but damn it seems like no one has actually done this part of the install for the McLeod bellhousing.

[c0ncEpT]

Joel - it's not that big of deal - it's well worth it to know you'll have your feet after a 6500 clutch drop

Agreed. If the clutch comes apart I would prefer not to possibly be handicapped for the rest of my life.

[Nocooler]

^Agreed - body parts aren't easily replaced.

All you can ask for is the unit to contain the clutch - the engine might not survive it, but who cares.