It looks to me like you are using the wrong starter plate. The one you need is completely flat without any indentation and is shown here in the VanPelt website and in the attached photo (on the left) below for the 1949-51 Merc. http://www.vanpeltsales.com/FH_web/flathead_trans-adapters.htm This is the starter plate you need. You can't beat the price. 1949-53 Ford/Mercury Starter Plate | eBay It looks exactly like the one in the pictorial photo above and the starter plate I used when installing my 8BA in a 40 Ford. Also used the 50 Merc flywheel, pressure plate and 10 inch clutch disc and the stock 40 Ford throw out bearing. 1949-53 Ford/Mercury Starter Plate | eBay Just to clarify: What year, make and model car and what year car is the transmission that you using with your bellhousing? Knowing this information makes a big difference on what components you need to install your engine. For instance, are you installing this engine into a stock 1940-48 Ford , a 1949-53 Ford, or a 1949-53 Mercury?
The bell housing I have is the truck bell housing and that and the starter plate I have match the Van Pelt photos for that. I do not have the Mercury auto bell housing. I need the truck bell housing to mate up with an adapter plate for the T-5 transmission that I am installing. The car is a 1930 Model A Tudor as shown in my avatar picture.
Hopefully, someone who is knowledgeable about "your swap" will jump in and provide the detailed info. required. Please keep us posted as to how you solve this issue.
Well, it looks like you have the right parts, except I can't vouch for the new stuff. The difference between the flywheels is slight and I can't tell the difference with my naked eyes. The stock flywheels are discernable by the pressure plate holes drilled all the way through on the 8BA's. Maybe there's something else?
alchemy brings up a good point. Is there information about the engine components you are using and the swap you are attempting to do that we need to know? Are you using the correct flywheel for your 8BA engine? Read this flywheel information re: 8BA and 59AB interchangeability and how ring gear position is different. Flathead 59Ab and 8BA Flywheel question | The H.A.M.B. (jalopyjournal.com) and this Flathead flywheel | The H.A.M.B. (jalopyjournal.com)
This photo he posted shows that the starter bendix gear isn't going down into the ring gear. I honestly thing the tooth count is wrong by the way all this has been going for this guy or wrong starter plate for this flywheel.
The starter plate is correct for the block, and any starter that bolts onto it and is meant to fit a stock flathead should be OK. The flywheel might have been sold to him as an 8BA, but is in reality a 59A? I truly doubt the tooth count is wrong, but I've never counted the teeth on a stock flywheel.
At this point it might be a good idea to compare in great detail the flywheel you are using with an OEM 8BA flywheel and an OEM 59AB flywheel.
Yeah I get to 20 and say this sucks when counting teeth. And then start over again a few more times for bad measure!
^Funny, I just got done counting out 168 teeth. I lost track around the twenty mark. I knew I'd screw it up again , so I counted out twenty at a time and made a mark...that's about as far as I can get without messing up. It worked!
So I cut out the end of the can so I can finally get a good view of what is going on. Reassemble everything and remount the starter motor yet again so we can give it another go. Now I record video to capture the exact point where things will get stuck and from that and examination of the gearing we should get some good clues as to what is wrong. I would post the video here but I can’t figure out how to do that. If you saw the video you would see that everything works fine now and the flywheel and engine turns over like a champ. I took the starter off again to rotate it 180 degrees so I would get needed clearance to put back the headers and that also works fine with no issues. I don’t know maybe the bell housing was slightly off and now that I pulled that off and put it back on whatever slight misalignment was corrected. The bell housing was snug and fit and firmly on the index pegs on the block before so any misalignment issue was not obvious and had to be very minimal. I guess pulling out and reinstalling the bell housing and starter plate assembly and reinstalling them again should be added to the list of things to try when most all else fails in situations like I had. A big thanks to everyone that provided suggestions and pointers on this to get me in the right direction.
From looking at your picture it looks like you have way too much clearance between the bendix and the ring gear. Or is that the camera angle?
The picture shows the gear when it’s disengaged and pulled back toward the starter unit. When it engages and pushes forward there will be less clearance apparent between the gear teeth.
That is why I mentioned the starter plate a page or so back. I doweled that plate so it can only be assembled in one place. Glad you got it fixed.
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