i have a 91 camaro with a t5. got a 400 sbc with 168 tooth flywheel. need to put the two togehter. i have found option where a lakewood belhousing bolts up and accepts the bigger flywheel but wondering if there is a stock bellhousing that bolts up to the t5 and goes over the 168 toooth flywheel. please help me i dont really have 500 dollars to spend on the lakwood bellhousing. anyone done this before?

 

Do a search for 168 tooth flywheel.

Short answer, no.

 

Is there not a 153 tooth flywheel available for a 400? (I'm just asking, I literally don't know)

 

there is butt i already bought my 168 tooth and if i did the 153 i have too drill and tap my block for the other starter hole and im not to good with a drill and i got one shot soo im not going to mess up my built motor for that.

how does trimming the inside of the t5 bellhousing sound i mean it cant be tooo much of a difference because its the same block that the flywheel bolts to and the new bellhousing isnt much bigger than the t5 one i think im not sure. but i figure i can grind down spots on the old one to accomadate the new one i think. i mean yeah it makes it weaker but why spend 500 dollars on a bellhousing that the tranny isnt going to be able to hold that power and not be able to return the bellhousing when i get a different tranny..

 

From everything I have read, you are basically stuck.

 

The cheapest 153-tooth, externally balanced, 2-piece rear main seal flywheel Summit lists is $346.95. You would either have to get the block drilled & reamed for an appropriate starter, or get a mini starter that will work either way and can be mounted toward the small ring gear side. Between the flywheel and starter, you're looking at over $500, most likely.

On the other hand, a scatter shield is good insurance against a clutch or flywheel coming apart when the T5 breaks and RPMs spike out of control.

 

I have a centerforce flywheel with 10 miles on it that will fix you up and a new centerforce clutch. I decided to go T56 and don't need the T5 stuff now. I will make you a deal if interested.

 

When I put a 400 in my T-5 car, I simply had a stock 305/T-5 flywheel "unbalanced" to the stock 400 spec at a balance shop. Took a handful of 3/8" holes halfway around the edge.

No way to "trim" the BH that much. You'll see.

Just do the right thing. Cheeeeep, quick, eeeeeezie, idiot (me) proof.

 

Sofakingdom, Did you have to drill and tap your 400 block for the missing straight-across bolt hole to be able to use the 305 starter with your T5 153 tooth flywheel(since every 400 block/168 tooth seems to have only staggered starter bolt holes) Any starter alignment/noise issues after that? How long did your T5 last? Would you do it again? Thanks.

 

Yes I did have to drill the hole. Here's a 400 block I drilled that way.



A very few 400s did get the hole drilled; from maybe 78 or so, and later. Otherwise, it's a "feature from the future"... those don't exist.

I shredded T-5s on a regular basis with a 400. I could put one in and tear ite up in a single trip around the block, if I tried; I couldn't make em last more than a few k miles, no matter what I did, though. No I would not do that again. Not now that an option exists; namely, the T-56. I put one of those in and basically put myself permanently out of T-5 misery. Unfortunately, The T-56 was ALSO a "feature from the future" when I put the 400 in, which was in about 1988. Hadn't been invented yet. Took several years before that solution appeared.

 

i think what im going to do is just cut the bottom part of the bel.lhousing off to clear the flywheel and then make a cover so my clutch and everything is not harmed. beacuse i do imagine i will break the t5 eventually i just want it to last me till winter time when i can have money to put a t56 in.. why buy a bellhousing for a tranny i will destroy and not beable to use the bh agian. and i have the flywheel and clutch assembly already its a 168 tooth ram flywheel and a kevlar zoom clutch 10.4 disc.

 

Don't bet on it... instinct tells me, all that will do, is make you have to buy BOTH the RIGHT flywheel, AND a bell housing. You'll see.

 

so basically ur telling me i have to drill and tap my block?? say i were to go this route how would i do this..i got one shot and i cant risk it.

 

Then just take it to a machine shop. Alot of em do it all the time, won't have any trouble with it. Shouldn't be too hard to figure out, talking to them, if they know what to do; if they go "yeah OK we'll have it done tomorrow at 4" it'll be fine, or if they look at you like you have 3 heads and are from Mars, try another shop.

Much cheeper and more reliable than all that other stuff.

Sell the wrong flywheel you have, buy the right one which is either of the 83-85 305/V8 ones (you'll probably prefer the light L69 one, stock ones at AZ and such are pretty cheeep), and do it right. Much better path than trying to hack and jerry-rig a bunch of stuff that isn't going to work anyway and that you'll just end up ruining and having to replace anyway.

Then, next time, ASK HERE what options there are and what works and how to do it and all that, BEFORE buying any parts. Odds are, SOMEBODY here has already been there before you and can share their experience, and save you going down a dead-end road and taking a left turn into the weeds, through the woods, and end up in the lake.