Birdie2000
Club Member
So, I have a McLeod SFI bellhousing for a T56 on an LT1. There are only two available for this engine/trans combo, the McLeod at ~$450 and the Quicktime one for about $6xx. I bought the McLeod since it got good reviews, installed it, and everything went relatively smoothly except for having to cut out a spot for the starter, which is needed for both companies' bellhousings.
In the instructions, it says for T56 applications to skip all the steps involving dial indicating. I was in a hurry at the time of installation so I was happy to do so and didn't think twice about it. I've never used an aftermarket bellhousing before so I wasn't too familiar with all of this anyway. For those nor familiar, here's a pic of the bellhousing:
You might notice how it would prove difficult to dial indicate this. Fast forward to earlier this week, the subject came up on another message board about it being necessary. Debate ensued and I decided to call McLeod. Here's what I got:
Me: "Does this bellhousing need to be dial indicated?"
McLeod: "Yes, but you can't".
Me: "So is this bellhousing intended to just be bolted on and run as-is?"
Their response was basically yes. Because the T56 has dowels on the trans to line it up, they rely on that to get everything lined up properly. I was then told that if I absolutely knew it needed to be done, I would have to MAKE a plate with a bore to do it. I asked them what would make you know need to do it, an align bore? They responded "yes."
My engine had an align bore done. FML.
So, any thoughts? Should I just run it and not worry about it? Anyone know if there are any symptoms that I'll notice while driving or during assembly that will tell me if something's off, or is wearing out the trans quicker the only thing that'll happen?
In the instructions, it says for T56 applications to skip all the steps involving dial indicating. I was in a hurry at the time of installation so I was happy to do so and didn't think twice about it. I've never used an aftermarket bellhousing before so I wasn't too familiar with all of this anyway. For those nor familiar, here's a pic of the bellhousing:
You might notice how it would prove difficult to dial indicate this. Fast forward to earlier this week, the subject came up on another message board about it being necessary. Debate ensued and I decided to call McLeod. Here's what I got:
Me: "Does this bellhousing need to be dial indicated?"
McLeod: "Yes, but you can't".
Me: "So is this bellhousing intended to just be bolted on and run as-is?"
Their response was basically yes. Because the T56 has dowels on the trans to line it up, they rely on that to get everything lined up properly. I was then told that if I absolutely knew it needed to be done, I would have to MAKE a plate with a bore to do it. I asked them what would make you know need to do it, an align bore? They responded "yes."
My engine had an align bore done. FML.
So, any thoughts? Should I just run it and not worry about it? Anyone know if there are any symptoms that I'll notice while driving or during assembly that will tell me if something's off, or is wearing out the trans quicker the only thing that'll happen?
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