I'm putting together a 1988 302 roller to an earlier C4 trans and I've run into a problem.I've searched all the other threads and haven't found anything that helps me. My bell housing is out of a mustang II and according to everything I've read so far it takes a 148 tooth flexplate. My converter has a 9 1/2 inch bolt circle, also a Mustang II part. Everything I've read on here mentions either 157 or 164 tooth flexplates. Does anybody know where I can find a 148 tooth, 50 oz. flexplate, or does such an animal even exist?
I believe the answer is no. The few applications that took the small bell & corresponding pieces were all dropped/changed/etc. well before the roller engines were introduced... It would probably be easier to get the correct flexplate for the engine & then get an appropriate bell for that C4 to match it....C4 parts are cheap, and so far as that goes, a complete C4 can generally be bought for $100 or less from a salvage yard.
Have you checked with TCI or any other aftermarket companies? I got a neutral balance flex plate from them for my gen II (LT1) SBC when I installed a stroker crank which changed it from external rear balance to full neutral.
Mustang II should have used a 157 tooth flexplate,the smaller bellhousing was for the smaller convertor.
I believe that C4 is not for a SBF, but for the 2.3....won't swear to that. The MII stuff I've seen was indeed the 157T flex, but the MII bell is slightly different.
It sounds to me like you have yourself a C3 in this case, yes this does exist, I had onre in my Fairmont althouth that was a 79' with an inline 6... Either way I picked up my 164 tooth flexplate from Ebay.
Might you be interested in a tunnel ram for that 302? I've got a friend who has a nice polished Offenhauser 360 tunnel ram he's going to swap out with a blower soon. It's in great shape and he will probably sell for cheap. Let me know
I would agree with the above and swap to a standard 6 bolt bell, 157T Flex, and the bigger converter. That way your parts are a bit more common.
Maybe a machine shop could rebalance it to the 50.oz. you need. I have a complete 302 and trans out of a 75 Mustang II and yes it is a smaller bell housing, I have been hanging on to just incase I want to put such a combo into a small car.
You have a sought after combo. You could check the companies suggested or , what I would do, have a machine shop rebalence the correct size flywheel to the 50oz.-in. weight and call it a day.
Thanks to everybody for all the info, I appreciate it. The trans shop said it was a valuable combo too, or at least the bell housing was. I cant imagine why. Somebody is selling one on Ebay for $250. I think it's a huge pain in the ***. Thats what I get for buying a pile of parts. The trans shop owner is my next door neighbor. I didn't buy it from him. He knew what I was using it for and I think if it was a C3 he would have said something fast. He's recuperating from cancer, so I spoke to his shop foreman today. He said if it was a C3 they would have rebuilt it as a C4 as a matter of course. They are going to look at it Saturday. I think my plan is this: Buy a 157 tooth flywheel, 50 0z. Go to the shop Saturday, identify the trans and see if they have a converter that will fit on my trans. and then see if the converter fits in my bell housing. If everything bolts up I will hook up a starter and see if it spins it ok. Otherwise if there is a snag anywhere along the way, I'm just going to roll the car and all ***ociated parts into my pond and be done with it. Thats where I put all my lawnmowers that dont start.
send a pm to fathack. he has a mustang 2 and knows about those cars. but i do know for fact that the mustang 2 v8 cars used a unique bell housing, flywheel and converter. even the stick shift cars used unique parts.
Mustang IIs all used the earlier SBF balance, as they were all built in 1975 to 1978 (1974 Mustangs weren't available with a V8 engine). Your bellhousing and converter are highly prized items in the Mustang II/V8 Pinto realm, but not particularly usefull to YOU at this point. My suggestion would be to sell your current bellhousing and converter, and then buy a 'standard' C4 small block V8 bellhousing and a 'standard' torque converter and a flexplate matched to your engine's balance specs. (You can use an earlier style flex-plate if you also run the matching earlier style vibration dampner (harmonic balancer). They have to be run as a unit...not mix and match!)
The crank has to match as well ... you can't just put a different flexplate and balancer on to convert an SB Ford from late to early balancing. cheers Ed N.
Truth! A stamped 2M or 2MA on the crank indicates a 28oz balance and a 2MAE indicates 50oz. Someone correct me if Im wrong, this is from memory and my crank is in my motor, which is in my car.
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