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    1. #1
      Join Date
      Feb 2016
      Location
      Lawrenceville, IL
      Posts
      348
      Country Flag: United States

      Bellhousing alignment

      I wanted to share this video with you all. I get quite a few questions on how bellhousing concentric alignment is done, and also why its important. We fix several transmissions each year that could've been saved by proper bellhousing alignment. The video is pretty focused on just the basics of it to try and keep it from turning into a feature length movie. If we can save just one transmission from failure we've succeeded!

      visit us on the web at www.bowlertransmissions.com

    2. #2
      Join Date
      Sep 2016
      Location
      LA - Lower Alabama
      Posts
      560
      Digging up an old thread here in preparation for getting my bellhousing aligned. In the video at about 11:00, you show the setup for checking alignment using the T56 front cover/mid-plate. It looks like the dial indicator is not set to read at 90* from the bearing housing. Is that correct?

      I dug the video up because I knew there was no way I'd get my dial indicator in there to get a reading at 90*. If I'm thinking about this correctly, that angle will result in the reading being slightly higher than the actual runout, correct?
      Dude are you made of leprechauns? Cause that was awesome!

    3. #3
      Join Date
      Feb 2016
      Location
      Texas
      Posts
      93
      Country Flag: United States
      I had to go through the arduous task of doing this alignment process under the car in my garage (no lift) as many of us have done I'm sure; what a pain. I was installing a T56 magnum and used the Quicktime manual BH. If using the manual BH you'll need to remove the front plate from the trans and bolt it to the BH to do the runout measurerment, but I digress.

      Before you check/verify the runout, you should verify, and adjust if necessary, the parallel measurement of the BH to the block. Mine was off and this will throw off the runout measurement. You can get shims to adjust the parallel, then check and adjust your runout. I had to adjust both with shims (for parallel) and offset dowel pins for the runout, and that was with the Quicktime BH for which some will say you don't need to dial it in - not so.

      With the dial indicator, you are measuring relative distances so to the extent that the dial indicator is not oriented exactly 90 deg to the surface should not be a problem. I made a short "L" shaped lever that I attached to the tip of my dial indicator to place the "extended L shaped tip" closer to 90 degrees. Just make sure that when you return to the start position from your 360 degree sweep of the BH opening the dial indicator returns to zero.

    4. #4
      Join Date
      Sep 2016
      Location
      LA - Lower Alabama
      Posts
      560
      Thanks for the followup!

      Unfortunately, I'll be doing this from under the car, with no lift, as well. I supposed I could pull the engine again since it's only two bolts at this point, but I spent a day and a half getting those two bolts in

      The area that I can see measuring at an angle can cause an issue is when selecting the offset dowels. For example, measuring at an angle might show I have .030" runout, when in actuality I only have .025" runout. I suspect the difference will actually be less than that, but I don't know for sure. I guess the worst case is I over correct with the dowels and then I have to buy a new set.
      Dude are you made of leprechauns? Cause that was awesome!

    5. #5
      Join Date
      Feb 2016
      Location
      Texas
      Posts
      93
      Country Flag: United States
      After all the time I spent under my car doing this (including some re-engineering of the BH) I swore if there was a next time I'd pull the engine, but that's another whole can of worms.

      As for seeing what you're doing and reading the dial indicator I used a headlight, flashlight and a mirror as necessary. Without a helper, repeatedly crawling in and out from under the car and rotating the engine gets old quick. I also pulled the bearing race out of the face plate where I put the end of the dial indicator. I watched the above video and I used the same packing tape trick over any holes or slots in the area swept by the dial indicator so I wouldn't have to worry about them when I was not under the car watching the dial indicator, but out from under the car rotating the engine.

    6. #6
      Join Date
      Feb 2016
      Location
      Lawrenceville, IL
      Posts
      348
      Country Flag: United States
      To help clarify on that video. The dial indicator that I used for the magnum cover had a "swing arm" on it rather than a straight pin that a lot of them use. It worked out much better to fit that tight diameter. Recently we have built this dial indicator plate that makes the process much easier. This eliminates having to remove the front cover to properly dial indicate the bellhousing. We press in the same dowel pins that the case uses to locate it correctly in the bellhousing opening. They sell for $65. Quicktime also has a version you can get through Summit , part# RM-130.Name:  20180112_110100.jpg
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      visit us on the web at www.bowlertransmissions.com

    7. #7
      Join Date
      Sep 2016
      Location
      LA - Lower Alabama
      Posts
      560
      Well. That settles that! I ordered one from Craig. It's worth it to not have to crack open a brand new transmission
      Dude are you made of leprechauns? Cause that was awesome!

    8. #8
      Join Date
      Feb 2016
      Location
      Texas
      Posts
      93
      Country Flag: United States
      Worth every penny. I wish I'd had one of those when I did my alignment.

    9. #9
      Join Date
      Aug 2004
      Location
      Connecticut
      Posts
      847
      does this plate work with an aluminum t-56 magnum bell housing??

      Paul Krol
      1968 Camaro

    10. #10
      Join Date
      Feb 2016
      Location
      Lawrenceville, IL
      Posts
      348
      Country Flag: United States
      Quote Originally Posted by paulk68 View Post
      does this plate work with an aluminum t-56 magnum bell housing??
      Yes, it will work with any bellhousing for the T56 Magnum Ford or GM.
      visit us on the web at www.bowlertransmissions.com

    11. #11
      Join Date
      Nov 2010
      Location
      Mobile,AL
      Posts
      1
      Just ordered mine! Could you also use this to check to make sure BH is parallel with the block before dial indicating for concentric alignment??

    12. #12
      Join Date
      Feb 2016
      Location
      Lawrenceville, IL
      Posts
      348
      Country Flag: United States
      Quote Originally Posted by kmart401 View Post
      Just ordered mine! Could you also use this to check to make sure BH is parallel with the block before dial indicating for concentric alignment??
      Yes, just be sure to install hardware in all the bolt holes and torque down so the plate will be perfectly flat against the mounting surface.
      visit us on the web at www.bowlertransmissions.com

    13. #13
      Join Date
      Sep 2016
      Location
      LA - Lower Alabama
      Posts
      560
      Can you recommend a place to get the shims for the bell housing? Measuring along the face of the plate looks like I'm out or parallel by about 0.005".
      Dude are you made of leprechauns? Cause that was awesome!

    14. #14
      Join Date
      Feb 2016
      Location
      Texas
      Posts
      93
      Country Flag: United States
      I got mine from Jody at Jody's Transmissions. He can send you a nice set of different thicknesses for a reasonable price. They work really well and are notched to help hold them in place until they can be secured when you torque the BH bolts.

      http://jodystransmissions.com/

    15. #15
      Join Date
      Sep 2016
      Location
      LA - Lower Alabama
      Posts
      560
      Awesome! Thanks for the tip!

      I was thinking about my measurements, and it occurred to me that my oil pan may be shifted back a hair. Before I shim anything, I think I'm going to loosen everything back up, loosen my oil pan, tighten the bell back down and then torque down my oil pan again. One more try before we start shimming!

      If that doesn't work. I'll be giving Jody a ring.
      Dude are you made of leprechauns? Cause that was awesome!

    16. #16
      Join Date
      Feb 2016
      Location
      Lawrenceville, IL
      Posts
      348
      Country Flag: United States
      Quote Originally Posted by ctcz28 View Post
      I got mine from Jody at Jody's Transmissions. He can send you a nice set of different thicknesses for a reasonable price. They work really well and are notched to help hold them in place until they can be secured when you torque the BH bolts.

      http://jodystransmissions.com/

      I'll second that!
      visit us on the web at www.bowlertransmissions.com

    17. #17
      Join Date
      Sep 2016
      Location
      LA - Lower Alabama
      Posts
      560
      When you shim a bell, is there any concern about there being less contact surface between the bell and the block?

      Dude are you made of leprechauns? Cause that was awesome!


    18. #18
      Join Date
      Sep 2016
      Location
      LA - Lower Alabama
      Posts
      560
      Quote Originally Posted by AU Doc View Post
      When you shim a bell, is there any concern about there being less contact surface between the bell and the block?
      Still curious about this. My bell TIR measures about 0.005" on the face of my alignment plate. It looks like I need to add shims at the top of my bell to get it in spec, but I'm a little concerned about the bell only being in contact at the top of the block, and at the bottom of the mounting surface. Is this an issue?
      Dude are you made of leprechauns? Cause that was awesome!

    19. #19
      Join Date
      Feb 2016
      Location
      Texas
      Posts
      93
      Country Flag: United States
      I'm not a professional expert on this (maybe Craig will chime in), but I had to adjust both the parallel measurement (with the shims) and the runout on my BH. When I adjusted the parallel, I had to add the thickest shims at the top and thinner shims at the locations moving down from the top of the BH. You could calculate how thick the shims need to be as you move down from the top, but ultimately, I ended up using some trial and error to get the correct tolerances all the way around the BH surface. So, at least in my case I did not have "gaps", but shims in multiple locations, all along the top half and no shims on the bottom half. You could shim the top as you've indicated you need to, torque the top and bottom bolts and then use a feeler gauge to see how much shim you may need on the bolts as you move from the top down. I thought about the same thing and thus used shims where ever I needed to fill a gap to get it all parallel with no gaps.

    20. #20
      Join Date
      Feb 2016
      Location
      Lawrenceville, IL
      Posts
      348
      Country Flag: United States
      The contact area of the bell against the block isn't as critical as that doesn't do much more than seal the cavity. All the force it receives is rotational, so having good hardware that is torqued correctly is the most important part. True you do get some lateral forces since it is the connection point from the engine mounts to the trans mounts, but the small amount of gap you would see by putting in the shims isn't anything to be worried about.
      visit us on the web at www.bowlertransmissions.com

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