Clements408

I'm having some challenges aligning a Quick time 6023 Bell housing to a 1989 350 engine to ensure the T56 main shaft is aligned within .005 of centerline. I'm able to rotate the flywheel with the housing/T56 alignment plate) bolted on to measure the run out. I chose to order the longer alignment pins, bore out the hole on the bell housing to allow movement, and weld in the retaining rings once fully centered. My strategy was to loosen the bolts and use a mallet to center the housing in, using the dial indicator. My reality is all bolts need to be very loose for the mallet to move the housing and once I start to tighten, the run out measurement various until all bolts are tight. I was forced to use a jack to push the housing up, over compensating on the dial gauge for run out, while I tighten up the bolts. This worked very well after a few tries with an up/down run out of .00025. My problem is now I need to push the housing to the left since the run out on the right is just at .005. Once I get it aligned, welding the sleeves onto the bell housing will lock it in. Any suggestions on how I can align both horizontal and vertical?

JA411

We use to use offset dowels and not enlarge the bell housing. Did run out straight off of crank flange with no flywheel on it. Once dowels are set you can R&R bell housing and still be to the good.
JOE

steve87ta

iTrader: (4)

I use a special tool that bolts to ths crank flange. Browell IIRC

Clements408

I finally got the Bell housing center lined within .002 and parallel to .003 versus spec of .005. This took me about two weeks (multiple measurements/adjustments a few hours a night) so will share how I finally "got it." Failure to get the T56 Transmission align to the Engine flywheel correctly will result in premature wear of the main shaft bearings and troubles with the clutch operation. My strategy was to use longer alignment pins, bore out the holes on the bell housing to allow movement, loosen the bolts and adjust with the dial indicator to center the shaft. Reality was the bolts needed to be almost completely loosen/removed at which point the weight of the bell housing would drop, changing any alignment achieved. I used a jack to support the bell housing and made small movements in the required direction. Second problem was loosening/tightening the bolts changed the reading on the dial indicator so I had to "overshoot" the desired end reading on the dial indicator and figure out the sequence in slowly tightening the bolts to end at the desired reading. The bolts on top would expand the reading while the bolts on the side would collapse the reading. This was trial and error until I got the right sequence to lock in the reading. I then rotated the assembly a few cycles to confirm the readings were within spec. Now the "easy part" is welding the sleeves that came with the pins to the bell housing to "lock in" the measurements. The process will test ones patience........