NOPE! still have to get flywheel. not workin that problem at this moment. gettin some money up to buy aluminum bed for crewcab and rear disc brakes. Once i get some more time will get with you later on flywheel. work is killin my toy time. buy cool stuff but not able to work the truck. now in rock springs wyoming! have a new service truck 2 months old and 12800 miles on it. holy crap!

 

I remember the work problem. Haven't had it in a while - not since I retired. . I'll await your input.

 

well here is my new plan and cheaper. built a bushing and centered inside of a thick hydraulic 460 flywheel and aligned the counter weights on back and had drilled with counterweights perfectly aligned. once this was done sent off to balance flywheel. this is all completed as of today. will hopefully be assembled in the next 2weeks. reason for different flywheel is to help spline contact on clutch hub. currently only have maybe .300 contact. with 460 flywheel gain about .180 and give me just under 1/2" of spline contact. my paticular engine is pretty stout and feel all this trouble is worth the effort. when coming down off the mountain will be using the engine for some braking and under load could be a bad deal if it fails in a steep spot. i have photos in my albums of the work and if any questions drop a message. custom flywheel is alot more expensive and feel this upgrade will work just fine with this engine. custom flywheel is about 700 bucks or a little more and then get balanced still$$$ if any questions drop a message. keepin old iron alive one ford at a time.

 

Wyoming - I certainly understand the problem as I'm working the same issues. But, I'm coming to different conclusions, as outlined in my thread. As you'll see there I've designed a spacer that brings the flywheel back .300" for more spline engagement and to hold the pilot bearing. That is shown in the thread, although I don't think the dimensions are there.

And, I'm going to move the ring gear forward the .080" it can be moved on the flywheel - the stock 351M flywheel. Further, I'm going to use a 351W auto tranny starter since it has a longer throw but the same gear. The combo of moving the ring gear and the long-throw starter will completely make up for moving the flywheel rearward .300". And, moving it that much gets plenty of spline engagement and ensures the throw out bearing stays on the bearing retainer.

I'm out of town for a couple of weeks but plan to start the machine work when I get back. Once I have things sorted I'll have drawings that any machine shop could follow to make the spacer.

 

yes i understand. in the 400 ford with factory flywheel you can go about .080 forward maybe .100ths. then you get into OEM starter snout. gear contact is a minimun for sure. once i get freed up and mock up tranny, flywheel one more time hopefully and will know the truth. kinda fun to mess with stuff and a pain but the answer is just around the corner and will be driving soon! keepin old iron alive one ford at a time.

 

Actually, in my case it is improving old iron, one Ford at a time. This 351M is far better than Ford made, and placing the ZF5 in an 80-86 era truck will certainly help the gas mileage.

 

a smart fellow ford guy ask me this question. why doing all this modifications for a 400 ford, he didn't get it. my response was the 400 ford offers a bigger clutch setup for 4wds and towing compared to a windsor application. 12.250 clutch 400 ford compared to maybe a 11"clutch max in a windsor. this made since and straight to the point. also kinda partial to a the 400 since it was my first engine in a 77 ford pickup back in highschool. like my big blocks also but never really new what it took to make a 400 run back in the highschool days. I'm a little smarter now and when you tell someone you have a 400 they just kinda giggle at you. I would like to make them quit giggling and watch their jaw drop.

 

well had a bushing built to fit in 460 flywheel. worked great have about .650 of spline contact. this is respectable spline contact and out of harms way. but got thinking some more and gonna modify some more. to machineshop again and have another bushing built but have .150ths shim and bushing all in one together and move flywheel out some more. after comparing to starter bendix gear clearance and have the room. should have around .900ths spline contact and never be issue at spline contact. also the throw out bearing will ride on guide and not run off end and cause some strange issues down the road. fixed several things at once with moving flywheel out. just got mocked up the other day and have a better plan. bushing will be build by next week. i stuck out of town on job in north dakota, watford. should get to put tranny in for the last time when i get home and be completed. order driveshafts yeah!!

 

You mean a bushing like this one?

Not done with it, but today's post is here: Dad's ZF5 Swap

 

yes that is the same direction i have just done. had my friend jerry do up the similar setup. scary simple but interesting little learning curve for sure. I have .150 behind flywheel and fitted to a 460 flywheel that i had blanced to my original flywheel. how much did you figure for material behind flywheel? old fords and overdrive will be nice!!! catch you later. my work is killin my toy time and currently in north dakota workin. are you using a factory flywheel or 460 hyd flywheel setup. just did a 460 flywheel and bush to fit 400 crank and had about .650 on spline contact thats acceptable but i want better and part should be done when i get back. catch you later and keep old iron alive one ford at a time!!

 

My spacer is .300" thick between the crank and flywheel, which is the stock 351M unit. I'll use a 351W auto tranny starter, which has a longer throw, and by moving the ring gear .080" forward I'll still have the same starter engagement as stock. I'm using an 11" 460 clutch disk and the associated throwout bearing, and get plenty of spline engagement and no chance for the t/o bearing to fall off the input bearing retainer.

The spacer should be done this week and I'll start on the tranny install soon thereafter. I'll let you know how that goes.

 

had a adapter plate and fitted to 460 flywheel to compensate for small block flange on 400. I have shim built into adapter hub. hub has .150 behind flywheel and probably could of went .200 easy, kinda conservative and should of less conservative. tranny mocked up several times and starter alignment is good! excellent spline contact around .900 into clutch hub, no problem and reliable. the pilot bushing is right at .975 off back of crank flange. if not sure keep pilot bushing the same height of bolts holding flywheel to crank. pilot bushing needs to be checked and make sure input shaft doesn't btm out into pilot bushing. if it does hit will need to be machined. if you don't check you could kill you thrust bearing in engine. need some thrust in engine, about .004 and forget the ZF tranny spec. whatever need to confirm input to pilot bushing not hitting, this happened to me and corrected.

 

adapter .150 behind 460 hyd thick flywheel. custom pilot bushing, brass fitted actually very simple to do and build. .978 from crank flange. make sure height same as bolts holding flywheel to crank. if not checked will hit at clutch hub and not seat, personal experience! next confirm input shaft doens't btm out to pilot bushing. have to mock up to confirm these fits. Need thrust in engine and if not could burn up engine thrust, cha-ching$$ trust nothing and mock up and confirm. my starter alignment is good and could of went another .100ths. Spacer .150 minimum behind flywheel. starter gear getting close while in running position. was lengthy process and i believe will be a worthwhile process down the road. using a 460 starter so no tricky parts to work. only tricky part was the 460 flywheel being balance to original 400 flywheel.

 

Ok, where are the pictures? As we say over on the 80-86 forum, without pictures it didn't happen.

 

my tranny is in and happy. but was running late to get in that night. gonna finish 205 transfercase this weekend. needs seals and a new yoke for tranny on 4wd side ear broke off on yoke. just money and time. will work my pictures later. good at mechanic stuff kinda slow on computor stuff. old school kinda guy. talk soon.