Indexing QT Bellhousing

I'm installing a used QT bellhousing on my 70 Duster with a 318. Transmission is an 18 spline A body four speed. The engine is in the car.

The instructions I found online recommend indexing the bellhousing to correct any misalignment between the engine and transmission. I understand that this is critical when using a TKX or TKO due to the tapered input shaft bearing. Is this process necessary when using a NP transmission with it's roller bearings?

I'm working by myself and it is impossible to rotate the front of the engine and watch the bell from the back. Thanks for any help or guidance!

Yes, it's 100% necessary - with ANY trans. Install the bell and dial indicator setup and start at a specific point - set the indicator at zero then rotate the crank 45* and take a reading. do this for every 45*. Do the math and make your adjustments to the bell then do it all over again. You won't be the first person to do this alone !! If you want to cheat, you could get away wiith only checking it every 90*.

Yes you have to do it and buy these BEFORE you start .

RobbMc dowels .

Buy these from Robb Mc , summit sells lakewood branded ones like these and just a pair of those cost a little more than buying all 3 offsets from Robb.


The old lakewoods that are marked Mopar/Ford and NOT Mopar , they are .500 which is Ford , Mopars are .496.

Use your phone to take a video of the dial indicator while you turn the engine over. That is what I do.

I agree with ALL said. if you remove the plugs you might be able to rotate the motor using the pressure plate bolts following the ARC of the FW with a box end wrench. One can also install the starter and use a remote switch

Thanks for the replies and advice everyone. I guess I was looking for someone to tell me that it wasn't necessary when I knew in my heart that it was?

So far, the plugs are out, the block plate is on as is the flywheel. I will bolt the bellhousing on and get the dial indicator set up. I have a buddy who says he can come by this weekend to help spin the engine while I write down the readings. It seems pretty straight forward from there. I have watched numerous YouTube videos on the subject.

Thanks for the heads up about the size of the dowels. I was looking on Summit's page and they list Ford/Mopar as .500", but if you look at the reviews there are comments from the Mopar guys saying that are too tight and needed to be modified. This saved me a HUGE amount of frustration in the near future. I will order the correct dowels from the link provided above.

Hopefully, I'll update this thread later in the week with good news. Thanks again!

Why do you have an 18 spline trans behind a 318? Just curious seems like way overkill appplication.

Hell, why not ?!?! It's not like they're any heavier or anything !

I'm having Brian Hafliger at IMM build me a 340 based W2 stroker motor. It should be ready later this summer.

Read above JohnRR told you where to get the dowels And they fit.

I did. That's why I thanked him for the info?

in my experience the QT's are closer to spec than the Lakewood's, normally only requiring a .007 dowel if any

That makes sense!

Glad I could help.

I think he might have missed that statement , I know sometimes I miss things ... getting old ...

Aren't we all. I hope I can get this thing on the road soon and start making more memories.

the question of the day is: Will you remember the memories 😂, Or will they be Memorex? ❓❓

This is an Alzheimer's test question 🙄

Success! My buddy came by today and we spent the morning measuring and remeasuring. We found .032 total run out so we divided by two and got .016. I just ordered the .014 offset dowels from RobbMC at the link above. Thanks everyone for their help and input!

please keep us updated on what TIR you ended up with, using those dowels.

Did you also verify that the bellhousing's transmission mounting face is square to the back of the block? Mine are usually off a bit from square, and I use hardend prescision washers to adjust that.

I'll second that ... I struggled to get my Lakewood dialed in. I think it was warped. I purchased a new QT and using straight dowels, measured using the 45* method and writing down. The QT was 0.002 out. I was happy. I've used the RobbieMac offsets on other engines; they work great.

We didn't measure that but I would be interested in knowing more? I will be changing out the 318 for a 416 next winter and would like to check it then. Thanks!

You may need to check the holes that the dowels fit into on the bell housing to make sure they are the same .496 that the Mopar block is. The last New Lakewood I did the dowel holes were .500, just like most of the dowels made out there. When I use the Robmc dowels, they were too small for the holes. It made it more difficult and the math did not work out perfect because the bell housing would have movement to the down side. Finding and old set of Mopar Performances dowels works the best.

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