Lakewood Bell SFI

[Rory McNeil]

I don`t know if this applies to GM bellhousings, but on my 427/428 FE Fords, Lakewood made some design changes some time ago. The earlier Lakewood had smaller lower containment bolts than the later versions, the later unit also had a thick reinforcement strip welded to the upper flange where the 4 upper bolts attach the housing to the block. I assume that either the earlier version had problems, or the SFI test procedure got more demanding. Both had SFI stickers, but I have to wonder if they would recertify the earlier models . Before his untimely death, I used to bring my Lakewood and McLeod scattershields to Tim Hyatt for inspection and recertification at his support trailer during national events. I understand Tims son is still doing clutch rebuilds, although he does not travel the NHRA circuit like Tim did. Not sure if the son can do the bellhousing recerts.

[Jim Caughlin]

Originally Posted by Rory McNeil

I don`t know if this applies to GM bellhousings, but on my 427/428 FE Fords, Lakewood made some design changes some time ago. The earlier Lakewood had smaller lower containment bolts than the later versions, the later unit also had a thick reinforcement strip welded to the upper flange where the 4 upper bolts attach the housing to the block. I assume that either the earlier version had problems, or the SFI test procedure got more demanding. Both had SFI stickers, but I have to wonder if they would recertify the earlier models . Before his untimely death, I used to bring my Lakewood and McLeod scattershields to Tim Hyatt for inspection and recertification at his support trailer during national events. I understand Tims son is still doing clutch rebuilds, although he does not travel the NHRA circuit like Tim did. Not sure if the son can do the bellhousing recerts.

Same thing happened on small block Ford Quicktimes, they changed the bolt pattern along with some dimensional changes for some reason so same recert issue might apply. In my case, it really sucked because the old bolt pattern matched my cross member. I had to modify everything to make the new one fit. Also, I've got a stack of old Lakewoods that are out of cert, if you so much as scratch them, they will not recert.