4l80e converter seating
 

when fully seated, how far should the torque converter mounts be from the bellhousing face?

mine is at 1/4" but I dont think thats enough, and cant find this information readily on the internet...

Vince had a post detailing it all on tech. IIRC, it should be around 1"

Ah, you were right

aftermarket converters are pain to get seated...

no kidding, im about to start beating it with a rubber mallet

best thing to do is to stick something like a tie wrap into where the converter seats all the way.. use a flash light so you know you are hitting the back... and mark the tie wrap at the seal.. use this measurement against the snout of the converter and mark right above it with a marks alot.. then install the converter... keep going untill the mark you made on the snout is right at the seal...

mine was tough.. i aint gonna lie.. but this made me feel alot better about knowing it was fully seated..

What is it that the aftermarket converters lack compared to the factory converter that makes the latter so smooth/easy to fully seat?

no joke, i had to tap mine...i looked and made sure it was lined up and gave it a lil tap and it seated

dont spin it, just twist it back and forth while putting some pressure on it. Not sure what verter your using, but if its a heavy bastard u gotta support it some so it will go

Lube the o-ring very well and make sure it is not rolling up on the shaft as you are installing the converter. I had a difficult time with the first converter I had with my 80 and figured out it was hanging where the turbine engages the oring. the tolerances were too tight to slide over the oring, thus rolling it out of the groove onto the input shaft and binding.