before you read my story, know that any help and / or suggestions are MUCH appreciated, ive spent all summer on my tranny, and just want to get it finished before i have to store the poor thing again... heres what's going on, after blowing my t-5.

Well.. I've finally found all my parts, got the tranny, bellhousing, pedal assmbly, clutch, fabbed crossmember and all the goodies... i got my flywheel as my LAST piece and it does not fit!

I've tried the old (pre 86) flywheel with the mushroom bolt pattern thingey, and the new one from the 94 'trans am that the one i currently have, and neither of them work. here's what im dealing with

Everyone says the flywheel that came with the tranny just fits into place upon doing the swap and its not... the bolt pattern is way too small! so i tried the old style (mushroomed crank) flywheel and it seems to fit a bit better (still dosn't though), but there isn't the big bevel / lip for the pressure plate. Does anyone make flywheels for people in my situation? i've tried calling centerforce, GM dealers, auto-wreckers, local "know-it'-alls" and nobody has anything to say that can help. any help is much apprecaited.

thanks for your time!!

-Frustrated as hell.

 

theres 3 crankpatterns.

late model 1 piece rear main seal style - (same as LT1... use the LT1 flywheel)

early style 2 piece rear main - most pre 87 (i THINK its 87) SBCs are this way..

400SBC -- this ones diffrent because it needs to be externally counterbalanced.



you have one of thoes 3...

 

well, i'm pretty sure its not a 400 sbc i mean, i didn't line up the numbers, but i bought the 350 from some guy in a local buy and sell (haha, wouldn't that be a nice surprise), i tried the lt1 flywheel (im sure its the lt1, i checked the part number at a dealer and i also tried the oldstyle flywheel (it had the mushroom type crank fit on it, as i could see from the wear), and they absolutely did not fit at the crank...

 

what part didnt fit?

 

neither flywheels would fit at the crank, that is; the bolt pattern seems off.

 

Anyone have any ideas? i'm dien here..

 

no ideas?

 

No. One of the three should fit

 

I dunno if this is gonna be much help, but after doing a few clutches in the shop I work for, I have found that most of the time there is only ONE way a flywheel/flexplate bolts up to the crank. That is, you have to turn the flywheel until the bolt holes all line up. Otherwise, it will line up on 2 or 3 perfectly, but be slightly off on the rest. Does this seem to be your issue? If so, try rotating the flywheel until they all line up....one of those should fit.

 

Yeah, i've tried rotating it as a holes aren't cemetrical... and i've tried the LT1 Flywheel and the old style and neither of them fit... (for sure)

I guess my next step is to find a 400 flywheel and see how that fits... that sure would be a nice surprise, oh my... heh.

 

no offence, but if they dont line up, you have to be doing something wrong... are you sure you're not trying to put it on backwards or something??

if it doesnt have a 8", externally balanced dampener, (assuming its a OEM style dampener) then its not a 400..... or it shakes like a wet dog.. lol.

 

Well I dont know... I seriously tried EVERYTHING... I tried putting it on upside down, inside out, rightside in and outside out... EVERYTHING, rotating it, turning it... it dosn't fit, at all, and nope, i guess it's not a 400.. what the @#$?! heh.

 

Hmm... well i havn't done many tranny swaps, but what would i be looking for if i was to compare it to a 400 from a 350? it dosn't shake when it runs so if a dampner is needed it's surely there... could you find a pic of the dampner that i'de be looking for? last night i had a guy from a tranny shop come over, he's a friend of a friend of mine and he's got no idea either.. i know i'm not putting it on wrong, but i seriously tried EVERYTHING... I havnt looked at a 350 and a 400 in comparison, hmmm... heh.

 

is it a GM crank in the motor? I've got a 383 with an eagle crank and it uses the 400 balancer but the flywheel pattern is the same.

 

I guess it could be a diffrent crank, i'll check that out too. When i bought the 350, the guy had modded it a tad, nothing heavy; headders a mild cam and a new carb, would have thought he'da told me about a crank... heh.

but the flywheel pattern is the same, you mean... its the 400 flywheel? or?



PS: thanks for the help sofar, guys.

 

You have an 85 or older 350. 86-up cranks have a smaller bolt pattern.

If you're going with the LT1 clutch, you need an aftermarket flywheel from centreforce, mcleod etc. for LT1 T56 + 85-down 350. That's all.

 

HAHA finally! I was reading the thread and was very curiouse how no one had chimed in about the fact that he is running a pre-87 block/crank (2 piece) and a late model everthing else (1 piece). I have a 79 block (2 P) and am mating it to a 94 T-56. I am using a spec stage 3 clutch.

NOTE: My flywheel is the kicker. Like stated above... This will be your adapter to tranfer the differnt generations of parts. I bought my tranny with a custom flywheel. The guy I got the tranny from was running a similar set up as me. It will be here Monday. I can post pics then if you want.

Good luck with the swap.

 

pre-86.

<-- 86 owner