Hello everyone, to start this off, I have spent two days reading through these forums trying to find every bit of info relating to my problem and I have had no luck. Short and to the point.. I have an 84 Bronco that I got by trading a Savage shotgun.. so I practically got it for $180. It originally had a 351 and 4 speed transmission per the PO. PO pulled engine and trans out and installed a 300/c6 out of a 1970 model f100. The transmission would not go into third gear and shifted like it had a shift kit. The transmission was missing the kickdown lever, the pan was dented pretty badly.. I pulled the transmission and was going to put a 4 speed back in it. Instead I found a c6 trans out of an 1986 f150 that the guy had all the receipts for a rebuild and it is still under warranty. I got it on a good deal and decided to use it. During installation I was sure to make sure the converter was fully seated and with some help of 6" long sections of all thread (I read about that tip on this site as well!) the transmission slid up on to the engine smoothly. The converter drain plug is lined up with its respective hole on the flex plate and I was able to move the converter up to get the nuts started on the studs. The converter did wiggle left and right in the holes as well (I don't know if that's info anyone needs), and the engine spun freely while I torqued the the converter. I'm telling all this info because of what I've read on the other threads about this issue and just wanted to share my experience in case anyone catches something wrong. Fast forward to the starter install, I am using the starter that was on the transmission that I pulled out. I get it bolted and wired up, and crank the truck. The truck cranked over in a kind of an off rhythm but it fired and ran and I let it run and checked the fluid and backed it out the shop and it drives fine.. now the starter does nothing but bind in the flex plate. Every now and then the truck will turn over a time or two but it ends up just hanging up and making a groaning noise with nothing turning. I crawled under the truck to find the bendix out and stuck in the flex plate.. I figured bad starter, I purchased one for an 86 f150 this time since it was an 86 transmission (reman unit from napa), same problem.. bendix just hangs in the flex plate 90% of the time. The truck may crank once or twice but never enough to start and it sure doesn't crank quickly. Am I missing something? I've seen the little ford shim kits on the shelf at parts stores and this is my first ford, but I've always heard to never shim a ford starter. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Is it possible you are using a starter for a stick shift application? A 351W stick shift starter will not work on a 300/C6, but the hi-torque 351 / automatic starter will work. Check that.

 

I checked on that today on my lunch break at work.. I had the parts person behind the counter at advance pull both a starter for an automatic 86 f150 and a manual f150.. the automatic had a longer nose on the end of it, and it's the one I have in the truck now... it seems like the starter gear shoots too far into the ring gear, and unless I tap the gear with a pry bar, it won't return into the starter. When I go to hit the key again, the engine will spin once or twice and then bind again. By the way, I really appreciate you taking your time to reply!

 

Does your engine have the block plate on it? This is the plate that goes between the engine block and bell housing. It spaces and locates the starter.

 

Ahh... after crawling under it and looking for a block plate, I do not see one. I didn't pull the flexplate when I swapped transmissions so I'm confused on how the truck started and ran without to begin with. Maybe I got lucky lol. I guess this would explain my issue. Thanks for your time as well!

 

My 300/six did not have a motor plate and it started and ran.


Don't know how long it was like that and I only started and ran it a little till I pulled the truck apart for rebuild.
Yes I am looking for one so I don't have issues.
Dave ----

 

Photo courtesy of Abandoned Bronco

Hey bud this it what it looks like

 

That's a manual transmission block plate. The automatic block plate is usually thinner and has a removable access cover on the bottom to get to the torque convertor mounting studs.