Ok guys I am back. It was a long 2 weeks. I took the transmission up to American Powertrain in Tennessee and they put a new front bearing retainer on the transmission. No damage was done to the tranny thank god.
I then proceeded to align the bell housing to within .003 inches of the crank centerline. By the way, don't ever try to remove Pontiac bellhousing dowel pins while the engine is in the car, what a freakin nightmare. Slide hammers don't fit under there and I had to drill them out very slowly by stepping up the drill size. Eventually they came out with vice grips. Don't try that at home. Worst experience I have every had with a muscle car. Anyway, after installing the Lakewood .007 offset dowels the bell is now .003 within crank centerline
As I was re-assembling everything I found the problem that cracked my trans front bearing retainer: bad clutch fork geometry.
According to GM, the clutch fork needs to be sticking out of the bell housing and slightly towards the front of the car when at rest. The exact amount is between 5 and 7 degrees, this is a very slight forward angle when the clutch pedal is at rest. Well, I looked at my fork and I noticed it was leaning back -5 to -7 degrees. This causes the arc of the clutch fork/throw-out bearing to swing to far and puts a side load on the front bearing retainer by pushing the throw-out bearing side ways as the fork arc increases when the clutch is fully depressed. Hence, cracking off the front bearing retainer of the tranny.
In order to correct the clutch fork geometry I adjusted the height of my McLeod Throw-out bearing (made it taller). This moves the throw-out bearing to clutch fork attachment back towards the transmission, therefor moving the clutch ROD end of the clutch fork slightly forward, about 5 to 7 degrees. Now the arch of the throw-out bearing on the bearing retainer sleeve swings in a more forward and backward movement instead of a forward to far and to the side movement. Problem solved. You could also solve this issue by using and adjustable fork pivot ball. But I chose the adjustable throwout bearing instead.
Anyway............ onto the ride height adjustment.
After a few miles of driving the front springs have settled in and the front of the car sites to low. Speed bumps are not even an option. PTFB Comp front and rear springs. For track use it may be ok, but unusable on the street, at least with my specific car.
So tonight I measure the wheel well lip to the ground on all four corners.
Front Driver: 25 3/4 in
Front Passenger: 26 1/4 in.
Rear Driver: 28 1/8 in.
Rear Passenger: 28 in.
After doing some basic math and knowing that aluminum coil spring spacers will raise the front twice the height of the actual spacer... I came up with the following
Install .625 spacer on bottom of Drivers Side Front spring to Raise the car from 25 3/4 to 27 inches
Install .375 Space on bottom of Passenger Side front spring to Raise the car from 26 1/4 to 27 inches.
Now the front is level and I have brought the ride height up to 27 inches in front and 28 inches in back.
What do you guys think? Can anyone post your front fender lip to ground measurements?