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Having a major problem getting my transmission mated up again. I usually dont have this problem. Using a transmission jack, engine is tilted down(tried level but tranny hit car). Spent 6 hours wrestling it. Finally I got a 1/4 gap and started to pull it together ( I know thats bad) and it was coming together with 1 bolt but others didnt align and gap on top was larger then bottom for I figured I screwed up the bearing so I pulled it. Bearing was fine. I matched the angle of the face of the bellhousing with the face of the tranny. Problem that I see is you cant push something together thats on an angle. The input shaft tip is perfect and the alignment tool goes in and out fine. So what the heck is the trick to get it together?
typically this is because the disc is "slightly" off center which makes the tranny input shaft catch the edge of the pilot and won't go in further.....and yeah don't pull tranny in with bolts or the input shaft will likely kill the pilot
Loosen PP bolts and align with tool again. I find holding the tool straight in (read push in on it) vs just letting the disc/PP hang on it while tightening PP bolts works better. Once you get a few PP bolts tight enough to hold everything, just tighten the rest to spec.
on that last 1/2"-1" make sure tranny gap to BH is = all the way around. Raise/lower motor to make it =
Yeah sometimes you need to "wiggle" the tranny in but it should just slide in if the disc is aligned and the angle of tranny = angle of motor.
We have all been there on this. Pull tranny, re-align clutch disc, try again...
when i was using the alignment tool i noticed there was up and down play of 1/8 inch due to gravity. i pushed the tool up when tightening the pp to compensate. when is it safe to use bolts to pull in. i would say when the gap is 1/4 inch the input tip is in.
Trust you got it together, I just mated a T56 with an LS1 today. Advice from Ball is very good. You are also right about the disc falling before the pressure plate clamps it. I find that holding the tool about midway to center while clamping will make the pilot hole concentric with the disc splines.
Another trick is when you are certain that the trans dowels will enter the bellhousing, plug in the hydraulic hose and have someone push the clutch pedal. This will loosen the disc just enough and if your alignment is good, the input shaft will fall right into the pilot bearing all the way.
Ok here is the mother of all advice on aligning the transmission, first as johnfin states if you are using one of the cheap plastic alignment tools there is plenty of play and pushing the alignment tool up a bit helps to center the clutch disc better, or better yet use a old input shaft or the metal alignment tool made by I believe RAM or quarter master or AMP. With the metal alignment tool or old input shaft there is no play and it will align properly.
Step 2, I cut the head off some old starter bolts and slotted the heads so I could thread them into the bellhousing at the 10-2-7-5 o’clock positions with a screw driver, then the transmission can hang off of these self made slotted studs, then it is much easier to slide the transmission into place as all the weight is on the studs, once it has slid in use a screwdriver to remove one stud at a time and replace it with a bolt. I have included some pictures. This wasn’t my original idea, I saw it on another forum years ago and it worked perfect for me.
I was SHOCKED at how much play my plastic alignment tool had in it and then when we tried to get the T56 back in, it would NOT go. Had to back it out, realign the clutch disc again with the tool and then visually check every spot we could that it stayed aligned while we torqued the bolts back down. It slid it the 2nd time. I, too, thought if the alignment tool slid in and out easily, it was a good alignment. I learned that is NOT always the case. Visually inspect it too after your use the tool.
QuarterMaster sells a nice machined alignment tool that hasn't let me down on getting things lined up on the first try. I think they go for about $60 and are worth the expense, I bought one and will never use a plastic one again.
Stabbed a T56 into an LS6 on a CTS-V tonight. Used the starter bolt trick as per lizeec above. Tranny fell right flush onto the bellhousing on the first shot.
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alignment problem 
