Wow. I am going to reset my dial indicator and recheck it. Holy cow! Here are the measurements I cam up with on the first round.

12:00 - .359
3:00 - .351
6:00 - .298
9:00 - .306

Am I off or what??? Which dowels should I use? I was looking at RobbMc's which I see 99% of you recommend. I probably won't be able to get back under the car now til Sat. morning.

What block and bell housing? Stock pins in it right now? Is this a new combo for these parts or is this just the first time you checked it?

It's a 440 with a Lakewood housing with stock pins. It's been together and actually run. I put it together many years ago, before I was somewhat educated and didn't know anything about the little things. I pulled the trans because I thought I messed up the clutch. The discs look good. So now I figure I better do this after reading all the horror stories. I didn't think it was off that far. That's why I want to go over it again.

.061" is a lot! Before correcting the axial alignment, suggest you check the transmission mounting face with your indicator for face runout. It is corrected with shim stock between the housing and block. Correcting the face alignment will change the axial alignment... and may bring it in closer. The biggest offset dowel I know of is .021" to correct .042" of runout.

For dowels, I've had best luck with the simple type. Mancini sells them under the MP brand.

PS: With the Lakewood housing you have another option. You can get weld on bushings to carry the dowels. You drill the existing dowel holes on the housing oversize, snug the mounting bolts, tap the housing into correct alignment then weld the bushing on with a straight dowel holding it in place.

to make things easier, zero your indicator at the 12:00 position then sweep the bore making sure you are not running off the edge of the opening also use a large button or round tip on the indicator I do not suggest using any type of pointed tip as they have a tendency to pick up any roughness and will catch knocking the indicator out of alignment, also to check that the indicator didn't move on you always make sure it go's back to zero in the 12:00 position.

Ok guys, I have some new numbers...

On the face of the bellhousing where the trans bolts to I got these #'s.

12:00 -.008
3:00 -.009
6:00 -.002
9:00 0.000

So there is an issue there. I'll take the housing and block plate off and make sure there aren't any globs of paint on the mounting surfaces.

For the axial alignment of the bellhousing, I'm getting these #'s.

12:00 +.0585
3:00 +.055
6:00 0.000
9:00 +.004

another set

12:00 +.032
3:00 +.002
6:00 -.036
9:00 0.000

I zeroed the dial indicator and brought it back to my 0.00 point to make sure it was accurate. It 0.00'd out every time.

I never thought it would be this difficult!

I agree with cleaning the mating surfaces, alto I do not know an acceptable amount of runout, I assume you get it as close as possible, but how much out of paralell to the block surface is acceptable??

as far as the runout of the locating bore, looks good side to side, but need's to move up about .017 to center it, that should be easily obtainable with the off set dowels.

For the face runnout I have used .005"=OK, .003"=preferred. This from the service manual for (don't laugh) a 1947 Power Wagon I was working on recently.

The axial runnout is still high... over 60 thousands difference from max to min.

Agree the next step is to clean the paint from the mating surfaces of the bellhousing and re-check both. I got brass shim stock from a large ACE hardware near me for adjustment. They had a variety of thicknesses. I used spray on lithium grease as corrosion protection after removing the paint.


On the Power Wagon project I mentioned, excessive runnout cracked two clutch discs, took out the transmission input bearing and likley contributed to main bearing failure. Its all dialed in now, bearing and clutch replaced, crank re-ground with new bearings and so far so good. That's why I take this stuff seriously, especially with parts not match machined at the factory.

Got the paint cleaned off the mating surfaces. Probably lost about 1/4" lol. I couldn't believe the amount of paint on them. Just dusted them with paint to coat them. Hopefully get to check them out tomorrow.

Got the new measurements. I checked the face #'s and I'm within spec now of .005. That is less than the service manual I have calls for. That is .006.

Here are my new numbers from the alxial alignment.

Starting at 12:00 and working clockwise around:

+.050
+.047
+.023
0.000
-.013
-.013
+.010
+.035

So if I can figure this out correctly, I should get dowels that are .017. Does that sound correct?

Sure would be easier to figure if you 0 the indicator at 12 o-clock. By doing that , when you are ready to index the bell housing you can visually see which way you need to rotate the bell. I found that having a drawing with the numbers on it helped. A chalk board would be better unless you get lucky. Just remember moving the bell a little will be allot on the indicator.

Maximum (at 12:00) is .050, minimum at 6:00 is -.013 as I read the chart. The difference is .063. As a starting point the dowel offset should be half the difference as I understand it and have done it... around .031.

No harm is checking it with a .017 but I think you will need more. .021" is the biggest dowel offset I have seen but there may be something bigger. If you can't bring it in with a dowel, the weld on bushings are a good option as posted above.