Tranny Spacer
 

Bob-

I have Shelby 427 aluminum block engine and a Tremec 3550 tranny.

I would like to confirm that I need to add the spacer between my tranny and bellhousing.

When I measure the distance from inside pilot bearing to bellhousing it comes real close to the distance from my tranny nose to the end of the input shaft- so I just want to confirm that the block spacer is necessary. You gave me one as part of the kit.

Thanks

Couple of options on this. First, what type of bellhousing do you have? I have a 427 so FE engine with a Lakewood scattershield and a Tremec TKO 600. The TKO is same dimensions as the 3550.

The stock, long input shaft that comes on these requires a spacer plate. Or, you can buy a shorter input shaft and replace the original with it. Then you don't need a spacer.

However, note that different bellhousings can be different depths, and you need to be accurate or what happened to me will happen to you - you cram the input shaft up into the crank and then chew up the thrust bearings on your crank when you try to turn the engine over :eek:

I originally had a cast iron Ford bellhousing and found (the hard way as mentioned above) that it was 1/2" deeper than the Lakewood.

Forte's Parts - (forteparts.com I think) sells the shortened input shafts and adapters and gizmos for just this type of thing. Good place to look for starters, and also post to the Transmission Talk forum here.

Good luck

spacer
 

HSSS-

Thanks for the reply.

I have a Lakewood, and the ERA manual says that all FE engines require the spacer. I'm going to put it on and trial fit everything- will try and give you some dimensional differences with and without the spacer when i do it.

Have a great holiday.

David

Dave,
Then it should be pretty straightforward - use current tranny and standard input shaft with the spacer, or change to the short input shaft and don't use a spacer.

I think if you go with the standard shaft and spacer, then the shifter will line up best with the hole in the transmission tunnel. If you change to the short input shaft and no spacer, you will have to modify the hole in the tranny tunnel as the tranny will have moved forward.

The dimensions are pretty tight, so just measure all you can to make sure, and when you bolt up the tranny, try to get it to slide all the way up to the bellhousing without using the bolts to pull it forward. That way you know you're not cramming the input shaft up into the crank too far.

Happy Holidays to you as well!
Scott

Input shaft install
 

Scott-

Ok, I put my tranny with spacer on a lift and lined it up with the bellhousing hole and about 6 inches away from it. I installed the throw out fork and the clutch bearing and then I slowly pushed the tranny in. Got it through the clutch bearing and kept pushing.

I got to within about 1-1/2 inches of the tranny casing touching the bellhousing ( the input shaft was almost all the way in) and it wouldn't go any further- now, mind you, I have never done this before so I backed off in an abundance of caution. Is there anything special I should do to get them to mate properly?--like turn the crankshaft a little to get the splines to line up properly? It may be that the alignment of the two wasnt quite right- I get the sense it will be a little trial and error but a voice of experience here would go a long way.

I couldn't tell what was keeping it from going all the way in, so I backed it all out and decided to call for help.:o

Thanks,

David

You don't have to be overly gentle with it and it will take some jiggling around to get it to line up. Did you use a clutch alignment tool to make sure the hole in the center of the clutch was aligned with the pilot bushing? If the clutch hole is off center, you won't be able to get the input shaft into the clutch and pilot bearing.

Try to get a good sense of the depth of each section of the input shaft and where it has to engage with the clutch and then the pilot bearing/bushing. The nose of the input shaft will only engage the pilot bearing/bushing about 1/2 - 3/4" at most, so if you're 1 1/2" out it's likely you haven't gotten the input shaft splines lined up with the clutch splines. If the tranny is in neutral, the input shaft will spin pretty easily or you can turn the crank a little bit to get it to line up. You can also twist the tranny case around a little to get the splines engaged.

Getting the end of the input shaft into the pilot bearing/bushing is usually the hardest effort. It should be the last 1/2 - 3/4" of movement forward. So try to get to to a point where that's all the gap you have between the tranny and bellhouse. You can then thread the 4 mounting bolts in to help align the tranny and bellhouse. You can slowly tighten the bolts to pull the tranny into the bellhousing, but have to be a good judge of how much effort it's taking to close the gap and pull the tranny up tight to the bellhouse. It should mate up with out overdue force to turn the bolts in. If you find youself really having to crank down the bolts to pull it forward, then that's a warning sign. Back it out and once again get an accurate measurement of the distance from the bellhousing face to the back of the pilot hole in the crank. Then compare that to the length from the tranny face/spacer plate face to the end of the input shaft. I've used a long ratchet wrench extension and placed it into the bellhouse as if it were the input shaft, and then lay a straight edge across the opening of the bellhousing and mark the extension where it comes out of the bellhouse. You can then measure the length to the mark you made and then measure the input shaft. Then distance will be close, but the input shaft should be about 1/4" shorter.

I'll have the same combination. Who sells these spacers?

Rodger

I have a pilot BEARING not a bushing in the crankshaft. The tip of my top loader is a VERY tight fit into that bearing. No amount of 'pushing', 'jiggling', 'turning' etc etc will make the trans tip go in the last inch or inch and half. I have to use longer trans to bell housing bolts and slowly methodically pull the trans into place. The darn trans input shaft and the bearing fit is almost like a light 'machine press' fit. Then I remove the temporary to long installation bolts and use the standard trans to bell housing bolts.

Oh sure I tried polishing the heck out of the input shaft tip and the inside of the pliot bearing as well. The biggest fear is making SURE your alignment is good before cranking down on the bolts and 'drawing' the trans in. Also you have to use extreme care to do all four bolts evenly or you could break an ear off the trans itself.

Gm Input Shaft .300" Too Long
 

Guys there is a foot note in the lakewood bell housing installment where the GM input on an FE motor is .300" too long. You can use a spacer, change the input shaft or get the input cut down in lenght to fit. I did the 3rd choice. If you don't do this you will wear out the thrust bearing on the crank. I am running a pilot bearing also. Make sure you center the bellhousing on the motor also. Rick Lake

Very good point Rick, the bellhousings will need to be dialed in in order for the transmission not to be put in a bind. We have ran into this alot with the Lakewood bells, I have seen a non-dialed in bell cause the transmission to grind and shifts to be very stiff. As a side note, with McLeod bellhousings you do not have to dial them in. jimig@standardtransmission.com

Dave,

It is a tight fit for the input shaft flange into the bellhousing. I used some long bolts to pull the tranny in to fully mate. You need to make sure that you have the clutch disk aligned properly though. You can look through the clutch fork hole.

Becareful using bolts to pull the tranny into place, you can break the mounting tabs off of the transmission, then you will really be in some trouble. jimig@standardtransmission.com

Interesting.

Has McLeod made changes to their FE bellhousing since this thread?

http://www.clubcobra.com/t57526.html

The bellhousing he is refering to is the Modular bellhousing, I have included a picture of it, it is alot different than the one I am talking about. It is a two piece bell that is designed to allow you to bolt it up to a variety of Ford blocks along with the ability to bolt several trannies to it by just changing the back plate. As for the comment about not having to dial in McLeod bellhousing, I was refering to their standard SFI approved bells. The only downfall to them is they are more expensive than their Lakewood counterparts, but if you have ever dialed a Lakewood in it might just be worth it. jimig@standardtransmission.com

Jimi,

I totally agree with you.

I had checked the McLeod website and the only bellhousing I found listed for the FE engine was the modular design. The SFI approved one-piece bellhousing was listed only for the SB.

Guess they need to update their on-line catalog? :confused:

Rodger

The tranny spacer is billet aluminum and was provided to me by ERA- I don't know who their supplier is.

I will measure each section of the input shaft carefully and have another go of it- using the bolts carefully for the last inch or so.

Thanks for all of the great suggestions.:D :D

David

Don't pull the trans flush with the bolts
 

Davetherave Dave don't pull the trans flush with the mounting bolts. Do 2 things, make sure the bellhousing is on first, if you are using the ERA master slave system for the clutch bleed this system first. and then make sure you have the motor supported and lifted in the back about 1" Loosen the motor mount block a little. You will need another person to help If you get the trans in to the last 2 inches and have the input through the clutch disc, depress the clutch pedal a little and the trans should slide in flush to the bell housing. The pilot bushing or bearing is the last 1" of travel. Very thin coat of grease on the end of the input shaft. This works for me and my trans as been in and out 7 times. I do it solo. nobody is around at 1:00am when I work on the car. Happy holidays Dave Rick Lake