Let me clarify how my Tremec TKO install went. I called Bradley Wedan in Columbus, In and told him I wanted to put a Tremec TKO 600 in my 57 Ford with FE engine. HE gathered all the parts. He sent me the Lakewood Bell Housing, McCleod clutch and pressure plate, Mike Forte's needle bearing pilot bearing ( Mike Forte was the first guy I think to put a Tremec behind an FE and made the pilot bearing himself), thowout bearing, and ordered the TKO 600 from Tremec with the shortened input shaft to fit the application without using spacers and he sent me the rubber transmission mount. He also used the long throw shift pattern that I wanted. I had about $4500 in the conversion.
The moral to this is, I didn't know what I was doing so I found people that did it for a living and followed their instructions. I couldn't have ordered the parts any cheaper myself and probably saved money doing it. Nothing went wrong with the installation and 40,000 miles later it goes thru the quarter in 14.3 and gets about 10,000 miles a year put on it. I paid for that to happen.