Problem is, my car with 170cid I6 is making a noise when starter is cranked. Visually it looks like the starter is not close enough to the ring gear teeth on converter. So I searched the web and found out the 6 and 8 has different number of teeth on the converter, meaning I have the wrong converter maybe. Is it possible? My converter has 132 teeth.
Maybe it's a starter problem, or starter drive problem. I have engine from '62, bellhousing from late 60s, C4 transmission and 3-bolt starter itself from '76. Unknown converter. When I look from rockauto.com tables, then it gives different starters and starter drives for '62 and '76. And I feel that '65 is the braking year, bacause '65 Mustang has both options listed. So, Do I have a wrong starter? Or wrong drive in starter? Can I change the older drive to newer starter?
Which bellhousing is on the trans. If it is a high mount starter it will take the 136 tooth flex plate/flywheel. If it is the low mount starter it takes a 157 tooth flex plate/flywheel. Also the starters are different between the low mount and high mount bellhousing. The high mount should be a 3 bolt starter and the low mount is a 3 bolt that is different then the high mont and a 2 bolt that looks like the V8 starter but is a little different. That is were the issue usually starts. People try to use the V8 starter and they do not line up with the ring gear and it will tear up the ring gear in time. You are saying converter but is is the flex plate that you need which one it is. The converter bolts to the flex plate. The flex plate and starter will also have to match the bell pattern and year of the trans.
It is high mounted starter with 3 bolts. It fastens all right like it should. But makes noise when crancked. I say converter, because the ring gear is on the converter, not on the flexplate. It has 132 teeth.
Only the sixes had the ring gear on the converter and then I think only on the 2 speeds, I don't recall the C4's having that style (but could be wrong). Every small block I have worked on had a ring gear on the flex plate, but maybe some early 221 stuff was different?
My maverick did the same thing. it took a $5.00 starter shim from the "Help" section at autozone to fix it.
I never seen the ring gear on the converter for a C4 either. I have removed over 100 of them both 6 cylinders and V8. I checked all of my books back to 1964 and there is no indication or pictures of a C4 converter with a ring gear. The old 2 speed does. Do you have the number of the tag on the right side of the trans. There should be a small tag bolted to the servo cover. Or do you have pictures of the trans. I'm not saying they did not make it. Ford does some things that make you say what the hell did they do here.
Learn something new every day. Yes there is a converter with a ring gear for the Ford 170/200 engine. The converter is a 10 3/4 inch diameter 132 tooth ring gear. The 132 tooth is the only one with the ring gear on the converter all other 6 cylinder C4 have the ring gear on the flex plate. There is and early 24 spline and a later 26 spline. Took a phone call and some research to find it.
I couldn't find any small 6 flexplate with ring gear from rockauto. Only the ones without the teeth from 60s and 70s.
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