Thinking of changing out my 54 PG flexplate...

I've had this ongoing issue with my starter griding on the egde of my ring gear. I've tried having my 6volt starter rebuilt using a 12v solenoid and such. Still grinds. My current flexplate is 139 tooth so everything matches up. I have to constantly pop my hood and turn the motor till I can find a spot on the ring gear that the starter drive can catch. Needless to say its annoying.

I've tried changing out to another 6 volt starter and I still get grinding on the edge of the ring gear. I am at the point where I assume changing out the flexplate is my best option.

So...I finally ran across another 60 year old 1954 Chevy 235 powerglide flexplate that turns over fine, no grinding.

Rather than taking it to an auto shop that may or may not know what they are doing on a 60 years old car...I am thinking about doing it my self in my garage. Put the car up on jackstands, dropping the PG and replacing the flexplate myself.

I am pretty mechanically savy, however I realize this could end up being alot of work. My question has anyone done this before on a similar model/year car? How hard is it? Am I in over my head?

Just trying to get my ride sound for Roundup next week~!

 

i'm not very familiar with your chevy , but with a closed driveshaft i think you will have to pull the rear end back too

 

I had to do this last winter for the same reason; same car in my drive way with jack stands by myself. Not too hard just a PITA. As mentioned you will need to pull the rear end out. This includes pulling the shocks, emergency brake cables and whatever else could get in the way. At the transmission of course the crossmember, linkages, etc... All the crossmember bolts will more than likely break so be prepared for that. There are a bunch of bolts that hold the transmission to the engine. Some you’ll have to get to from inside the car. I had to enlarge the holes in the flexplate I got by 1/16th after I bolted it to the crank; check before you do this I was lucky that I could get to it with a cordless drill. The transmission is one heavy SOB and mine had 60 years of grease on it, wear an old tee shirt or none at all; it will be ruined when you’re finished. You’ll need a lot of hand cleaner and patience. Good Luck.

Also find the repair manual online it helped me. You’ll only need to move the transmission back far enough to get a wrench on the crank. You’ll also need to make a simple stop to keep the converter from moving forward. I think there were a couple hidden bolts too, don’t remember; it was a traumatic experience that I wanted to forget. It took me a better part of a day.

I don’t know how your plate got messed up, but mine was a timing issue and me continuing to try to start it knowing I would f*ck it up. I learn the hard way. My dizzy was fouled up, replaced it after the flexplate; no problems now. Again, good luck. Not hard just time consuming. At the least get a helper who can fetch tools that would save some time. I never want to do that again.