I tried rocking the truck bit got no loosening or movement. Tomorrow I will look to see if there is some plate that will unbolt the starter. I am considering making an inspection / unsticking hole in the sheetmetal cover then hose clamping a cover in place. Any thoughts?

Thanks for all the help, Barry

 

as i mentioned above, i am no expert mechanic but i do have a lot of experience with the problem. i have changed starters, ever have a different engine with only common part being the starter plate (new engine must have had an auto tranny? diff plate, put my old plate on the new engine) . mine jammed enough to start ripping the metal on the sides of the cover. i peeled quite a bit of the side of the cover away and put a temp cover on it (as you described) the metal on the cover is fairly thick. this past summer it jammed and rocking didn't work. i loosened, without removing, the long starter bolts, took off my cover, tapped the bendix with a large screwdriver, hammer, it popped loose. it worked. with the shims i mentioned in earlier post, mine jams about once per summer driving season and rocking usually works. i'm hoping someone on fte will come up with a better solution for both of us. keep us posted.

 

Thanks for everyone's help. I tried rocking again this morning and, boom, she came loose. I reassembled the starter and installed and....she starts! I am considering putting on one of the "new style" starter drives. Does anyone have any experience with these?
Thanks again for the help, now I can go back to work. Barry

 

I'm running one of the new starter drives and it works great. Good to hear the update.

 

What "new style" is that?

 

Mac's shows a new improved drive with an internal spring

 

Just out of curiosity, you guys having jamming issues, are you running 6 volts still or have you converted to 12V? And if so, what voltage is your starter supposed to take?

 

i'm putting 12volts on a stock 6 volt starter. it does spin quick, usually starts immediately. but i guess the fast spin could cause more jams. dick r

 

Ross this link should show what it is. Right column. If it doesn't show up, type "starter drive" in Mac's search engine.

Ford Pickup 1948-79

I had a local electrical shop rewire my starter for 12V and put on the new enclosed spring drive. Before that tho, I seldom had trouble with jams. If the ring gear and starter bendix are in good condition it doesn't happen very often.

 

Thanks MT, looks interesting. I think the basic cause of jamming is that the drive is coming in from the back, instead of the front, of the ring gear. I wonder why Ford did that?

 

I had the same problem years ago in my F1 when I had converted to 12 volt but still had 6 volt starter. After changing starter to 12 volt never had the problem again. I too think it was just spinning to fast.

 

I do not know if this starter was rewired for 12 volts but I have been using the truck for about 6 years without a jamb.