I am running a 390 flywheel on a 460 and am using a 400 starter with a 10 tooth drive gear. When I crank the motor it will turn but is very noisy and dont sound right at all. Any suggestions?

 

Would it be safe to try a 9 tooth starter?

 

i would say so. If i remember right most 390s had a 9 tooth starter so i would try it.

 

I'm using a 351m/400 bell housing and starter on my 460 with a 390 flywheel and it sounds fine and I've been using it this way for 6 years. Lots of others on here do as well. There seems to be a ton of unknown variables on 460 swaps with 4-speeds so its hard to say. You do have the thin steel plate between the bell housing and engine right? That peice locates the starter.
But are you guys sure a 390 starter only has less teeth on it?
This thread says otherwise.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/838661-starter.html

 

Yep that must be right because 351m/400 starters have nine teeth ok thanks guys

 

So does your 400 starter really have a 10 tooth gear?

 

No it orginally had 9 but my parts dealer told me I had to tear it apart and put a 10 tooth drive gear in it for it to work on a 390 flywheel. He is an idiot and im tearing the starter back apart and its going straight back to him.

 

Let us know if you get the noise straightened out, I'm curious.
Edit.
I just re-read. Or did you have the 10 tooth gear on the starter which created the noise?

 

Got the problem fixed. I dug out my old dusty 351m starter with 9 teeth and bolted it up and it sounds completely fine now. Im gonna tear apart the new 400 starter and put in the original 9 tooth drive gear and take everything back to the parts dealer. Its kind of bad when a parts dealer dont know or cant look up what starter correctly fits a 390 flywheel. I would have been a tad bit mad if that would have knocked a few teeth off my ring gear.

 

Good deal. When I read other people having problems with the 460/351m bell & starter/390 flywheel, it makes me nervous bout my own set up even though its working fine. lol.