My buddy bolted up his 200R to his block and there's a gap between the block and bellhousing. We removed the tranny after initially seeing this and examined both the bellhousing and blocks mating surface carefully. Went over both with a wizwheel to ensure both surfaces we free of anything. We made sure the dowels were clean as well.The pics below were taken after reinstall. Does anybody think there is a problem here? We just cant seem to get the top section of the bellhousing to sit flush on the block. Thing is the last tranny to come out had a cracked bellhousing and now seeing this makes us think this may have cuased it. We dont want to ruin this brand new tranny we got from Performabuilt.

Passenger side viewed from top



Center of bellhousing from the top



Drivers side from top



Thanks for any input

 

Can you spin the converter with it like that?

 

I know he has installed transmission before so converter installation not a likley issue plus its flush on the sides , I have never seen that though I would imagine it could cause some considerable stress on the bell.With the previous trans breaking the bell and now seeing this I would have to assume the bacl of the engine if not straight? Never heard of or see it though "weird"

 

Converter spins effortlessly. Well we really did not want to have to remove this trans again but we have a bellhousing from a T-56 handy. I guess we may just have to bite the bullet and pull the trans and bolt the T-56 housing just to see how that sits on the block when anchored down.

 

When bolting a 200r4 to an LS1 there are a couple of bolt heads on the back of the LS1 that may contact the top inside surface of the bellhousing, you cannot see it with the trans installed. I just grinded a bit of material off the bellhousing to provide clearance.

 

What bolt heads are they? The rear cover bolts possibly?

 

What year is the vehicle and the engine? I have seen this exact issue with engines with the earlier cover on the back of the engine using a JW bell. The problem as mentioned above is very possible. Either way you need to remove the trans to see what is going on. If in fact it is hitting the cover then you will need to convert to the later design or start grinding. Good luck with new trans. Vince

 

The block is a 98. I kinda came into this when my buddy already had the tranny in. I mentioned te rear cover bolts and he stated he saw what appeared to be teeth marks on the bell. Well well teeth marks= the head of bolts if you ask me. I think we have his issue solved. We plan on dropping the trans and grinding where these teeth marks are at. I guess we lost sight of the fact that even tho the bolt pattern matches the LS1the 200R was not designed around a block with a rear cover. This also explains his last bellhousing failure thankfully we caught this. I will report back our results.

 

Well we dropped the tranny and twokrx7 was correct. I took a pic below and circled the area of interest where you can see the bolt heads from the rear cover were contacting. We ground the bell a lil bit there and she is all snugged up cleanly. Thanks for everyones help with this. This I am sure cracked his last bellhousing.

 

Awesome to see someones problem fixed!

 

When I first read this thread I knew what was going on here. The real issue is that the core used has a bell that can be used for two different engines in it's day. We refer to this bell as a uni-bell. The JW bells are the same way and with the early cover this issue is seen time and time again! Good to hear my advise pointed you in the right direction. Good luck with the new trans. Vince

 

Yes thanks for all the help. As I stated we figure this bell was never designed for a motor with a rear cover like the LS series employs. A lil grindin and we were golden.

 

nice catch.

 

that could be my problem as well. I have the uni bell on my th 350 and it has the little gap at the top as well. Also have an oil leak that could have something to do with this as well. Could it crack the rear cover?

 

no but it will crack the bell housing

 

Had the same problem on my th400 jw ultrabell. Ended up breaking 2 flexplates in the process of figuring out what was wrong. I'm suprised this has never been added to the sticky in big red letters. I think this is more common on this conversion than a lot of people think switching from a 4l60e to a different trans.

 

^^^^ I agree sticky is a good idea. I had the same problem with the th400.