hey guys, its been awhile.
i apologize that all my pics are showing up as links rather than pics, but they're safe to click on. i moved them all to the end so its cleaner to read.

so i'm working on my 87 e350 with the 6.9, and in recent weeks was working on diagnosing a rattling noise that was most prominent when not under load. sounded like a cross between a loose wheel on the road and a piece of sheet metal being beat with an air hammer. well it was a couple weeks ago when i diagnosed that it was the flex plate that was broken, with the 2 holes that were still carrying power torn to about an inch long. i tightened the loose nuts on those holes and put loctite on them. then i had to drive a few hundred miles to get home. once i got home i decided this truck wasn't leaving the village until i got it fixed. and thats a good thing, considering i stopped a couple blocks from home to do some work yesterday and had to drag it home because it gave out on me.

anyway, i went online trying to buy a flex plate for it and found some trouble. the ATP z342 is the cast iron flywheel with ring gear, but doesn't include the flex plate to drive the torque converter. its all someone would need for a stripped ring gear, but useless for me. the actual flex plate is obsolete, and to the best of my knowledge is not available from ford or anybody in the aftermarket. the 7.3s call for the ATP z344 and i read several threads here and elsewhere that say they work. so i ordered a z344 and a torque converter, and all the parts arrived yesterday. so this morning i pulled my transmission and flex plate to do the swap. everything came out easily enough. once i had it apart, i started looking at my flex plates. the factory setup has the large cast iron hub, whereas the z344 is only a stamped steel hub. looking at it, the new one looks like the flex plate that sits on the original flywheel, except for the larger outer diameter and ring gear. i considered the fact that its over an hour drive to the nearest junkyard, and how much i need this vehicle running sooner than later, and finding the crankshaft extension i'd seen mentioned in other threads wasn't going to be quick or easy, so i decided not to search for one. i considered looking for a machine shop to modify my new flex plate into my old one, but again i decided i couldn't afford the time of tracking down a willing machinist and waiting however many days it would take him to have time for it. so i decided to take matters into my own hands. i lined up my broken flex plate over my new one and traced its outer diameter with a paint pen. i also noticed that the one bolt hole that was intentionally not drilled out would be required to have my torque converter holes line up. i made short work of that with a drill. i don't happen to have a home machine shop, or even a garage, workbench, or vise right now, so i had to decide how to manage the cutting of this thing. i decided that my 4.5" angle grinder with a cutoff wheel would be my best bet. then walking around the back of the van, i got an idea for how to support the flex plate for cutting. i placed it on the hitch ball, leaned up against the bumper, and started cutting, holding the angle grinder at about a 45* angle and allowing the flex plate to slowly turn as i cut. this made it easier to get a smooth round cut. once i got about halfway through it all the way around, i flipped it over, traced my lines again, and cut from the other side. once i got done i cleaned up the edges a little, so it wouldn't cut me up while handling it. i then placed it in the flywheel to check its fit, and it looked beautiful. from there, i put the flywheel and flex plate back on the engine in the original order (flywheel, flex plate, ring, bolts), installed the new torque converter into my transmission, and put it all back together. i had to run to town for torque converter nuts since i didn't plan ahead for those, and all my originals were lost with the studs since i didn't reinstall the inspection cover after my original diagnosis.
overall, the whole project went very smoothly, and was all done easily in one day. i drove it around the block tonight and it sounds great! one promising thing i noticed is that the new flex plate is thicker than the original, so that should mean its stronger as well.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/h22ssy4yod...13435.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/z1okwdigs3...20610.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9w332k7s5y...20632.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8xyfvpoqfn...20702.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/czotjmhmpv...25426.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/fftlevtput...25404.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/d7rysct67j...30243.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rznez7fgy8...30259.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zrak6kbq2c...32111.jpg?dl=0

 

Works in a pinch of you don't have the spacer, as long as the spacing is not pushing the torque converter into the pump at all. A bit late now, but I have one of those C6 flex plates for the cast 6.9 automatic flywheel just sitting and collecting dust.

 

I should have thought to ask on here before ordering one, too late now. But I will suggest offering yours on ebay or whatever, assuming you don't plan to need it. I can't be the only one who broke one and couldn't buy one

 

Hey there cadunkle, any chance you're still holding onto that flexplate? My dad is in the middle of a rebuild in a tight situation and I would like to help him out if I could. He can't find one anywhere and am wondering if you would be willing to part with it?

 

33848 FORD FLEXPLATE DIESEL TRUCK OEM (SEE ADDTL. DESC.) - Diesel Products

I'm not sure if this company still has these but it might be worth a phone call.

 

Yes I still have it, and would be happy to let it go. PM me an offer and your zip code for shipping cost. I can get it shipped tomorrow if you need it sooner than later.

 

Theyre local to my dad in South Florida which is great. Thank you for the lead.

I cannot access PM's, my account is restricted because it is newer than 10 days old I suppose. My email is h j putnam at gmail.com (no spaces). I can email you my phone if you'd prefer a call. I really do appreciate the help.

 

Didnt know it was you logged as HJ. I talked to Corey, and told him that it was funny some one else named Henryjay was on here cuz that was my name!!! Duh.

 

Hello sir, do you still have a C6 flexplate ? I’m in a jam and wondering if you or anyone would know how to go about finding one

 

I think I still have it, I can check this afternoon. Looks like you're in NJ too, easier for me to not ship that heavy thing if I've still got it.

 

I can't find the 6.9 flexplate. Good chance I sold it with the C6 when I sold that, or scrapped it after swapping in a 7.3. I'll poke around more over the weekend in case it's hiding though.

I do have a bunch of other IDI bits, starter, fan, intake, brackets, injector lines, oil coolers, pulleys, timing gears,many of ZF5 internals and a couple damaged cases, cams, etc. If you're local and need IDI stuff I need space and want to get rid of it. Hate scrapping stuff, but you know how it goes when you're tripping over stuff you can't give away for years.