Transmission Adapter Install Instructions

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Description

Picture

Bellhousing Adapter

Crankshaft Adapter

PRW Flexplate

Powermaster Starter

Bellhousing Adapter to LS Bolts - M10 Recessed and Countersunk

Starter Bolts - M8

Rover Bellhousing Bolts - M10 x 40mm

Rover Bellhousing Bolt Washers (yellow)

Crankshaft Adapter Bolts - M11

PRW Flexplate Bolts - 7/16"-20

Torque Converter Bolts - M10 x 16mm

Rover Bellhousing Cutting Guide

Blue Threadlocker

Anti Sieze

Special tools needed

Angle Grinder or Die Grinder with Cutting Disc

You will need this to cut off a piece of steel on the engine block to fit the starter

Die Grinder with Carbide Burr

We will need to carve out some clearances in the Rover bellhousing. You will need a Carbide Burr for this. Ideally chucked into an air powered or electric die grinder. You could potentially use a Dremel, in that case you need a burr with a 1/8 shank.

You could potentially chuck the carbide burr into a drill, bit it won't be as effective because the speed is too low.

Grinding the Rover Transmission

To get the transmission ready, we need to carve out some clearances.

Make sure the torque converter is seated

Our kit does not require removing the torque converter. But it may have moved out of position. The surface of the torque converter should be about 1" shy of the bellhousing surface. You should not be able to reach around it with your fingers. It should feel solidly in place. If it's not fully seated, rotate and wiggle the converter while applying light forward pressure until it clunks into place. If the converter was fully off, it can take three "clunks" for it to get into place.

Clearancing for the starter

The starter mounting location does not match the Rover's exactly. So we need to cut some metal out of this area. Otherwise, the starter's gear will not have room to operate.

Use the Rover Bellhousing cutting guide provided. Place it so it slots into the two holes on the bellhousing. Use a sharpie to mark the inside of the cutting area. Remove the cutting guide. You should have clear markings of the cutting area, it should be 20mm deep.

To avoid getting metal particles everywhere, place a plastic bag over the torque converter. Stuff the gap around the torque converter with some paper or a foam noodle. Cover the axle u joint. You may want to cover the rest of the bellhousing with a bag.

Grind away at the cutting area with your die grinder and carbide burr. When complete, it should look like the pictures below.

Check: Temporarily install the bellhousing adapter onto the transmission with 2 bolts to hold it in place. Install the starter, pull the starter gear out with your fingers to make sure it clears.

Clearancing for the adapter to oil pan bolts

There are two bolts that attach the bellhousing adapter to the oil pan (the bottom two bolts). We need to be able to install and remove these bolts, but some parts of the Rover bellhousing are in the way. We need grind those away.

In these pictures, you can see the two bolts that cannot be removed because a part of the bellhousing is in the way.

Temporarily install the bellhousing adapter to the transmission. Mark the material you need to remove, and remove the bellhousing adapter so you don't damage it. Grind away with your die grinder. In the end, it should look like the pictures below. (You can probably do a cleaner job than the pictures, we were working in a tight spot)

Re-install the bellhousing adapter temporarily and test that you are able to insert bolts into the holes freely.

Remove the bellhousing adapter from the bellhousing.

Cutting/Grinding the LS Engine

Starter clearance

We have a custom starter setup in our kit, so we need to make a small modification to the engine for it to fit. There is a large potruding piece of steel which gets in the way of the starter, and we need to cut it off.

Set up your angle grinder or die grinder with a cutting disc. Cut this piece of steel clean off. It should look like in the first picture.

You will also need to grind down the bulge on the front cover near the bolt. (second picture)

Next, loosely install the bellhousing adapter onto the LS engine. Install 2 bolts to hold it in place. Install the starter using the 3 starter bolts and check the fit. Is the starter fully seated in its mounting location? Does the starter still make contact with the block? If so, use a flap wheel to grind the metal down further.

Clock the starter, and remove the shim

You may find that the starter solenoid hits the engine in its current position. Thankfully, this starter can be "clocked" so you can rotate the solenoid anywhere you like.

Remove the 3 socket head screws on the front of the starter.

Remove the shim, we need the extra distance for proper gear engagement.

We recommend placing the solenoid as high as possible without hitting the engine. You can also place the solenoid straight down, but there is a risk of collision with the driveshaft.

Bellhousing bolt clearance

With the bellhousing adapter temporarily installed, test each of the Rover bellhousing threaded holes with one of the bellhousing bolts. The bolt should go through the adapter plate and stick out ~3mm on the other side. Test all the bolt holes to make sure the bolt can go through and stick out a couple of mm. If the bolts cannot stick out the other side, you will need to do some grinding. Alternatively, you can use the 4 yellow washers we provided so that the bolt does not stick out.

For this one you will need to grind down the edge of the bolt head on the front cover behind it (marked in white).

For this one near the dowel, you will need to grind a little bit of the edge of the engine casting (marked in white).

For the two holes at the bottom that go into the oil pan, you could carefully grind the oil pan but we think it's not worth it. Just use two of the yellow washers provided in those locations.

LS dowel pins clearance

With the bellhousing adapter temporarily installed, you will see the dowel pins on the LS motor are stickout out proud of the adapter surface a little bit. We need to cut down the dowel pins so that they do not sit proud of the adapter. The Rover bellhousing will mate with the adapter plate and the dowel pins will get in the way.

So mark and cut the dowels down with an angle grinder.

Test fit the bellhousing adapter again and make sure the dowel pins do not sit proud of the surface.

Install the bellhousing adapter

We're done grinding, now you can install the bellhousing adapter to the LS motor for good. Slide the adapter onto the LS dowel pins. Hand thread the Bellhousing Adapter to LS Bolts. Use the recessed or countersunk ones where applicable. Torque the bolts to 35 ft-lbs.

Note: we recommend taking the oil pan off the LS motor to make it easier to reach the torque converter bolts when installing the engine. You can install the windage tray and pickup tube, but leave the oil pan off for now, or just install it loosely with 2 bolts. You will permanently install the oil pan (and the last 2 adapter bolts) under the vehicle.

The upper right bolt is not used on Gen 3

Torque to 35 ft-lb

Leave the bottom two bolts off for now

Install the starter

Since we are going to reach the torque converter bolts through the oil pan, you can install the starter now and not have to deal with it later.

First: Make sure the starter shim is removed as explained above. The starter may come with a shim pre-installed. You will need to remove the starter mounting block. While re-assembling the starter, you can choose how to clock it. We recommend clocking it so that the starter solenoid sits on top.

Make sure the starter is seated and slotted in the round hole. This is important so that the starter is positioned accurately. Install using the 3 provided starter bolts. Torque to 18 ft-lb.

Install the crankshaft adapter and flexplate

Locate the 6 provided crankshaft adapter bolts. Put a small drop of blue thread locker on each bolt.

Place the crankshaft adapter on the crankshaft flange and loosely thread all 6 bolts.

Torque the bolts in a star pattern following this sequence:

First pass: 15 ft-lb
Second pass: 37 ft-lb
Third pass: 74 ft-lb

Locate the PRW flexplate bolts and put a small drop of blue thread locker on each bolt.

Place the flexplate on the crankshaft adapter. Loosely thread the flexplate bolts. Then torque in a star pattern using the same sequence:

First pass: 15 ft-lb
Second pass: 37 ft-lb
Third pass: 74 ft-lb

Done! You are ready to install the engine in the engine bay.

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