That is correct.....the starter plate made to fit against this particular bell housing has a slanted section, where the starter bolts, to compensate for the angle. Each of the various Ford & Mercury bell housings has its own matching starter plate.
Mac you are a star sir... I was scratching my head as the complete engine was I think picked up by the bell. So it's definitely a ford bell. So I need a ford starter plate. I have made up my mind. I will cut down my t5's input shaft machine the tip so it'd stock flathead. Use a Chevy fork with s threaded ball. Nut welded to steel bell. The spigot is Chevy t5
instead of going to the trouble of modifying the input shaft,why not a spacer between box and housing.sounds a lot easier to me
You need the '49-'51 Ford car V8 starter plate, the only one that angles the starter for the full stamped steel V8 bell.
The one for my Merc is made just like that as well. Really good piece considering it is 70 years old. The more I see of these old parts,,,,the more it reinforces my opinion that they really knew their stuff back then. Tommy
Why mod the shaft I plan on fitting a 070 V8 Camaro input and 070 cluster and 123 heard into the V6 case.
JFYI, the '49-'51 Ford 6 cyl. stamped bell is flat, looks very similar to the V8 bell, but will not interchange, and uses an entirely different and massive starter plate.
Good info.....just a word.....tread lightly if your buying a bell hosing - without that starter plate !
I've got one of those hanging on the side of the shed that I picked up somewhere for the price of a can of good beer. It will probably be on the side of that shed for another ten years. For Chevy applications we can use the Jeep 10 spline T 5 input shaft and end up with the correct length and an easy to get clutch disk. I haven't seen anything I remember comparing a Ford input shaft length to the Jeep T 5 though.
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