Hot Rods 49-51 mercury oil pan and starter motor clearance remedy

I've started installing my big inch flathead into my '34 and have come across a hurdle that I foolishly didn't account for in the build stage.
For the build of the chassis and headers I used an 8BA motor with a sedan oil pan, the starter plate is on the left.
The problem is the "good engine" has a Mercury 8CM oil pan with the deep oil pump pocket on the left.
With this setup I cannot get a starter to bolt up as it fouls the oil pump pocket and possibly the dipstick tube
(attached pic shows where the starter and oil pan foul)

My question is, do I have enough clearance in the oil pump pocket/oil pump body to massage the oil pan for room or do I go to a mini torque starter with a clock-able/smaller body.

 

Maybe you could use the mini starter and hack up an older starter and use it as a 'cover' to keep it looking right? is the motor going in a car where it is all on show?

 

I don't think the look of a modern starter will be bothersome; the one-off headers will be enough of a distraction. It is more of a fitment issue, hoping someone else has been in the same situation as I don't think I would be the first person to have made this goof

 

I'm not a flathead guy, so this may not work, but can't you flip the starter plate over to put the starter on the right?

 

Never saw an 8BA with a left side starter. Is that some kind of right-hand drive deal?
Bill

 

I'm going to assume your Chassis is a right-side steering being you're in AUSTRALIA. you could just change the starter plate to a left side steer as long as it will clear the steering box. Your probably not the first one to deal with this. Maybe find another build like yours in your neighborhood to get firsthand visual and info. The cure can't be too difficult.

 

Times 2. New to me.

 

Henry built a Ton of right-side drivers in 34 so it has to be a Nutz-n-Boltz cure. Don't think he ever moved the Oil Pump to relocate the pan bump though.

 

As much as I dislike those aftermarket mini starters I think that in your situation you are stuck with one with your chassis being right hand drive and no room for using a US left hand drive 8BA truck bellhousing to move the starter to the right hand side.





I'd have to think that there is no room to move the 8BA starter to the right hand side.
On hiding the mini starter I'd just paint it Ford starter black and get rid of the "Look at me I am a mini starter with shiny anodized parts" look. I saw an alternator done the same way a while back and it hides in plain sight from the casual observer. After that if someone is looking that hard they are looking too hard for something to nitpick.

The big problem with the mini starter is that the electrical connections are going to be butt up against the pan unless you have a left hand mount mini starter avaiable there.

 

I would like to see a photo of the whole 8BA style stamped steel bellhousing and starter plate, that has that left side starter.
European cars with right hand drive makes sense, but I cannot find any images of one on the WWW.
Never knew they existed.

Bill

 

Im in Australia, we have both left and right side that will pop up from both US and Australian produced flatheads.

 

unfortunately a swap to the the right wouldnt work as it would require a change of bellhousing also, the bigger problem is i have no room due to pedals, steering box and header design for a change over.

 

thanks for the info, i started the project with a cast truck bellhousing with a left side starter and realized that it wouldn't work due to the depth of the bellhousing and the length of the t5 input shaft, so I have swapped it out for the pressed steel 8ba bellhousing I had on the shelf that solved that problem.
not fussed on hiding the mini starter black paint will sort that out and I think the header design will be enough of a distraction; I have sourced a Denso style mini starter that looks like it will work. ill update once we dig into it a little further

 

Pressed Steel 8ba Bellhousing with Left side starter with s10 t-5 have converted the clutch assembly to Hyrdualic throwout bearing.

 

Right Side Header for reference. running a Left hand drive 53-54 chevrolet sedan steering box mounted upside down giving me a push-pull setup

 

Thanks for the photo.
Learn something new everyday!

Bill

 

I learned something new today.

 

Can you not just remove the oil pan and see what your clearance would be and see if a slight modification to the pan is possible? Seems to me that is the logical starting point.

 

Use the proper 8BA pan & pump pickup. There will be no steering interference.