After 6 hrs under my car trying to get my tremec in, cold concrete,
crummy plastic alignment tool, pushing clutch in and out to get it
in the last inch I pulled the motor. I took off bellhousing and made
sure their was'nt any problems with pilot or clutch plate. Then I used
tranny shaft for alignment, tightened down pressure plate and
removed trans. Put scattershied back on and rolled trans right back
in, with a half inch to go I put the 4 bolts on and tightened very
slow without much tension, worked like a charm. 2 hrs total. After
6 hrs of frustration this is the only way to do it.

Glad to hear you got it in, let us know how you like it.

Glad you finally got it in but I suspect most of the issue was with the alignment tool. It is not an exact replica of an input shaft and there is some "slop" involved in using one.
Your method of "sucking it in" with the bolts is definitely not desirable. I have seen several tranny's come back with broken ears from installers using this method. Glad yours didn't break. I remember reading either on here or over on Pro-Touring about a few companies that sold steel alignment tools that closely resemble an input shaft and are quite cheap(less than $25). I would highly recommend looking into one of these and keeping it on hand in the event the tranny ever needs to come out again(clutch change etc...). :thumbsup:




Richard
Tech Support

Those plastic alignment tools are crap. I have an alignment tool kit that has several pilot bushing/bearing ends that thread onto the shaft and then a tapered collar slides over the shaft and butts up to the splines. When doing a duplex type clutch, I would get a used transmission input shaft in order to get all of the splines lined up. The tool recommended for this was twice what the input shaft cost was. As far as that last 1/2", my TKO 600 was dragging on the center hole of the bellhousing. I just lightly wiped down the edges of the hole with emery cloth. There was still a bit of resistance but it did go in.

Richard. I called amp performance here in Phx and they told me that they sometimes
pull them in with the bolts but very carefully. I think the little resistence I felt was
thru the clutch disc and hole on bh. They said that sometimes you have to
sand of paint or powder coating to get them to slide easy. I tell you with little room
for error this was a piece of cake using imput shaft for a clutch tool. I dial indicated
and used browell bh tool, did not want to cause a misalignment. They are a tremec
dealer and they install them so I took their tips. Will install everything tomorrow and
see if the crossmember they make will fit. Thank's for everybodys help at TC.

Richard. I called amp performance here in Phx and they told me that they sometimes
pull them in with the bolts but very carefully. I think the little resistence I felt was
thru the clutch disc and hole on bh. They said that sometimes you have to
sand of paint or powder coating to get them to slide easy. I tell you with little room
for error this was a piece of cake using imput shaft for a clutch tool. I dial indicated
and used browell bh tool, did not want to cause a misalignment. They are a tremec
dealer and they install them so I took their tips. Will install everything tomorrow and
see if the crossmember they make will fit. Thank's for everybodys help at TC.



LIke I said, glad you got it in. Wait until the 1st time you grab 5th gear and the rpm's drop to nothing. It'll make the whole ordeal worth it. :thumbsup:
My telling you that I have seen many tranny come back to us because customers did what you did was merely my opinion on the matter, nothing else. Those are aluminum cases and ears and will crack off pretty easily.
deerhunter had it right, usually, it is the front bearing retainer that interferes with the register hole opening of the bell that causes the problem. Like he said, alot of times by using some emory cloth on the register hole opening and the front retainer, you can "wipe" away enough to get them to mate together.

I'd give anything to know how big your smile is going to be the 1st time you grab 5th? :hurray:




Richard
Tech Support

We had the same problem last winter with my son's new build, a 496 BBC and his dual disk clutch and TKO 600. Crappy plastic tools suck.
We were faced with drawing it together with the bolts.:(
No way! We weren't risking it. I put a cheater bar on the throw-out arm and pulled to release the disks. BINGO. Popped together perfectly.:thumbsup:
The drivetrain was still on the garage floor.