I'm about to order Speedway's AOD to 8BA Flathead adapter. They want to know if I want the 157 or 164 tooth ring gear. Beats the hell out of me. I suspect that this relates to the starter gear, but I don't have any idea how to identify the correct starter to ring gear combination. Advice?
Thats interesting cause I just bought the complete pkg with trans and they didn't ask for any information. I have it in one of my 34 chassis behind a mild 8ba that I had built. You have to grind the block and starter and in some cases modify a small spot on the edge of the pan to get the starter to fit. I've done a couple of these and when adjusted properly they work great. Make sure you have someone that knows what they are doing when you fire the engine and move the car. This trans can eat itself in a short time if everything isn't right.
On 8BA or Mercurys 49 to 53 the only difference is whether it has standard or automatic transmission when it comes to starter drives, starter mount plates, and flywheel/torque converter starter rings. Starer mount plates sort of match up with bell housing types too since there are several different types just in standard transmissions alone.
Speedway's kits use the starter thats match the transmission, so the flathead starter is irrelevant. The flexplates that comes with the complete Speedway kits are 164 tooth.
Even if it isn't in the instructions, I'd bet they know at Speedway..... If I recall correctly, the 157 tooth flywheel is used only on the C-4 on later Fords. I think the AOD uses the 164 tooth flex plate. I think this, but wouldn't bet a lot on it. Apparently don't type fast enough...LOL
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