My input bearing retainer is too long

[blykins]

Thanks guys...Yep, I've assembled everything outside of the car. I did that first thing before I ever tried installing the tranny. Everything worked smoothly, and the measurements jived.

I'm using the block plate that came with the Lakewood.

I did remove the little metal blocks...the picture was just taken before I pulled them out...

And yes, I used an alignment tool.

My next plan of action when I can get a few extra hands is just mount the flywheel only....put the bellhousing on without the clutch fork and T/O bearing...and mount the tranny. Then I can look up in the clutch fork hole and see how much distance there is between the bearing retainer and the flywheel. I know my clutch disc is 1.025" thick...so the distance has to be greater than that.

Actually I'm not even for sure it's the bearing retainer now...I had two buddies helping me, and since we were scattered all underneath the car, they could see things better than I could....one of them thought that was the problem....and he took some measurements for me.

After I got to thinking of it last night, I went back out and looked some more...he had used a T-square with adjustable stops. He measured from the clutch hub itself to the outside mounting flange of the bellhousing. The T-square was set at 4.125". I ran over to the tranny with the T-square, and that distance was about 1/4" longer than the input bearing retainer.

So I'm even starting to doubt it was that. If it wasn't, I don't know what it was....I know trannies aren't the easiest thing to install, but it really felt like we were just pushing against a wall when we got to that point. I know the splines were in the clutch...I could turn the engine over and the output shaft on the tranny would turn.