TKO 600 installation - bellhousing alignment

Back side of the block (1986+ 1pc rear main seal):


Flywheel bolted to crank:


.

Clutch installed:



Bellhousing bolted to block: at this time the bolts are not torqued yet, bellhousing must be aligned first.

.

Dial indicator setup: magnetic base is placed on the flywheel, i had to remove the clutch to fit the indicator. If you have a smaller magnetic base it might work with the clutch installed.


Clutch fork:


Tranny in box:


Here's a pic that shows how I turned the excentric dowel pins that locate the bellhousing:


These excenter/offset dowels fit very tight in the hole in the block. Don't polish them to make them turn easier, you don't want them to rotate when you pull the bellhousing off.



I would not want to do all this under the car. Although it's pretty much a bolt on kit I'd pull the engine to make life easier.

I must have that!!!!

In a near future the guys from Keisler or others will receive some cash from me!!!!

Stroker-427 said:

I must have that!!!!

In a near future the guys from Keisler or others will receive some cash from me!!!!

Click to expand...

Do it.... it's by far the best modification I have done so far.

I will...... for shure!

The only problem is that in this month my Credit Card is allready "under vacuum"......
New heads, new brakes, Shark-Bar...... and so on...

Where you buy it?

Stroker-427 said:

Where you buy it?

Click to expand...

I bought from Keisler but I don't think ClassicChevy is any different, they most likely match each others price and it'll cost you the same no matter where you buy.
Upgrade to the bulletproof bellhousing and order the offset dowels right away, tell them you're in Europe and make sure they understand that you want a complete kit.... I had quiet a few small parts missing which they sent quick and of course at no charge... being in Europe it's going to take forever...

your offset dowels

Karsten, what brand dowels do you have? I used morosos on the ramjet build, they came with 2 small set screws, I just drilled and tapped the block for them, I then polished the dowels and the lock screws is what keeps them in.

The kit I installed came from classic chevy 5 speed, they didn't include the dowels so you should ask them for all 3 offset sizes available, also make sure they put in the 4 quarts of GM synchromesh lube, you can not find it here and the tranny calls for specifically that (same as in my ZF tranny). It's made by pennzoil (also called just synchromesh). Also had them send the hydraulic throwout kit sans master for it, they kept telling me it wouldn't work on a vette but if you know what you are doing you can make it work

I just asked Richard at Keisler to send me the offset dowels. Looking back, yes... order all three sizes and return the ones you don't need... (unless you're in Europe)....

The GM syncromesh is a joke.... $14 a qt.... here you can only buy it at the GM dealer. Now of course no dealer had the stuff on the shelf when I needed it, they wanted me to come to the counter, order and pay and then come back 4 days later to pick it up... wtf ??? They wouldn't ship hazardous material either....

I found it on Ebay (welcome to the 21st century, buy your tranny fluid on ebay).... incl shipping it was a $50 tranny fill....

Two F*&^ing days later I see the Pennzoil syncromesh for $6.99 at AdvancedAuto, 1/2 mile from my house.....

MYBAD79 said:

Here's a pic that shows how I turned the excentric dowel pins that locate the bellhousing:

Click to expand...

Are you adjusting the dowels with the tranny on or just showing how you do it with the indicator setup above?

BBShark said:

Are you adjusting the dowels with the tranny on or just showing how you do it with the indicator setup above?

Click to expand...

:noworry:

...just showing how I did it when the indicator was inside the bellhousing. This pic also shows how hard it was to rotate the tight fitting dowel, needed a wrench on the screwdriver..... I like the Moroso dowels with the setscrews that Marck mentioned. if there is a 'next time' that's what I'll use.

MYBAD79 said:

Two F*&^ing days later I see the Pennzoil syncromesh for $6.99 at AdvancedAuto, 1/2 mile from my house.....

Click to expand...

I can't get that damned stuff here

Oh, btw the bulletproof bell is nice but the bracket for the clutch fork makes it a PITA to work on. When you use a hydr. setup you won't need it so you may just cut it off (it does mess up the gold plating but you could paint it so it looks nice again). I'd recommend the moroso ones for the bulletproof one because they are MUCH easier to turn than the others. The bulletproof bell weighs a ton and the regular ones are a bitch to rotate with the load on them (and the bulletproof has a front block saver plate so it's a 2 part system, this means you need the longer moroso dowels anyway)

If you use a hydraulic setup you have a big honking hole for the clutch fork but only 2 small lines come out. This is what I did to close it up.



One of those lines goes to your clutch master, the other is a bleed line.

I used the McLeod bulletproof bell. It looks identical to yours Marck. I needed to cut that bracket off so I could use the Scoggins Dickey bracket needed to support the clutch bar. Also needed to weld the pivot ball on the SD bracket and cut off the ball stud in the back so as not to pinch and bind up the clutch bar movement. Probably one of the bigger PITA parts of Project RamJet.

Bullshark

How common is it to have the bell housing improperly lined? I have a lakewood blow proof and was running my M2o fine and never checked the alignment. I am getting a Keisler TKO-600 when I get the motor back together and want to make sure it is right.

Wade

I would think that with a auto trans and a TC which is like a fluid clutch the alignment is't all that important. A "normal" clutch is pretty much a solid connection of crank and tranny shaft, imagine the alignment is .008" off (indicator runout) - now the tranny shaft cannot rotate around its own centerline but instead is dictated to rotate around a center that is .004" off (1/2 the indicator runout).
You want this alignment to be as good as possible, .002" indicator runout is ok, .001 is better....

BlackRat said:

How common is it to have the bell housing improperly lined? I have a lakewood blow proof and was running my M2o fine and never checked the alignment. I am getting a Keisler TKO-600 when I get the motor back together and want to make sure it is right.

Wade

Click to expand...

It's standard practice, especially on modern transmissions with tight input shaft bearings. The old muncies and all had pretty loose tolerances and the input shaft could move quite a bit. Not so on the new stuff so you have to make sure your bellhousing is dialed in properly or you could face an early input shaft bearing failure.

BlackRat said:

How common is it to have the bell housing improperly lined? I have a lakewood blow proof and was running my M2o fine and never checked the alignment. I am getting a Keisler TKO-600 when I get the motor back together and want to make sure it is right.

Wade

Click to expand...

For what it's worth, I see more of the Lakewood bell housings that require the offset pins than any other brand of bell housing on the market. I don't know why the Lakewood is so far off. I have even seen some of them that were as much as .060" out. You cannot correct that. I had to exchange the bell housing and send the defective one back to Mr. gasket.
I'm not trying to scare you, only prepare you. If possible, when you buy your kit, order up all 3 sizes of the offset pins up front. That way, you have them when your doing the install. If you don't need them, great, send them back for a refund. If you find you do need them, then you have them right there and don't have to wait for them to show up.


Richard
Tech Support

rj8806 said:

For what it's worth, I see more of the Lakewood bell housings that require the offset pins than any other brand of bell housing on the market. I don't know why the Lakewood is so far off. I have even seen some of them that were as much as .060" out. You cannot correct that. I had to exchange the bell housing and send the defective one back to Mr. gasket.
I'm not trying to scare you, only prepare you. If possible, when you buy your kit, order up all 3 sizes of the offset pins up front. That way, you have them when your doing the install. If you don't need them, great, send them back for a refund. If you find you do need them, then you have them right there and don't have to wait for them to show up.


Richard
Tech Support

Click to expand...

Cool thanks Richard!!! I will be calling you shortly. I almost have the motor back together. I bought the wife a new set of wedding rings for our 10th anniversary. Guess what I get??????:bounce: