If you have no way to indicate the bell housing ? Take cover off of starter, take spark plugs out. Now hold the starters fork down while you have a friend turn the engine over with a ratchet. If there is a bind bad enough to break a starter he will feel it while turning it over.
I don't know why you would want a starter with a longer drive ? There has never been one made that I know of, so your not likely to find one. All the starters are the same for these trucks.

 

Hi mark,
Longer drive completely engages the flywheel while a shorter one will not. No the starters for the bb are not the same. If they where the same they would have the same parts number. The automatic flexi plate ring gear is futher from the starter. Where the manual is closer.
I have a truck that proves this fact. There was no binding in my case just a few manual starters that chewed the corner of the off the starter gear.
If you look thru my albums there are pictures of the difference.

 

Awesome, thank you for telling me about the brass key/screwdriver issue. I will try that when i get home. Im hoping that'll do tbe trick.

Just to clarify, you put the brass key between the starter and bellhousing on the side where the headers would be and then slid the screw driver in the gap and pried toward the engine block, right?

 

I'm trying to figure that one out too, but it sounds like bullnose is essentially shimming the starter at an angle slightly away from the ring gear.
Guessing that a brass key doubled over happened to be the thickness that looked appropriate, but that other things like washers and such would be able to perform the same task at shimming the starter.

It sounds like it was under just one bolt, and therefore changed the operating angle at which the starter works. Very common issue with the old GM/Chevy small block starters, and shims were readily available just for that purpose.
Anyone that's ever heard that crazy shreeking of a misaligned GM starter knows how important shimming can be to those.

Until recent years though I'd never heard of a Ford starter in any engine family needing to be shimmed. However they now have Windsor starter shims on the HELP rack at the local parts stores. Apparently it's "a thing" now where it wasn't before?
Or maybe I just never had the "good fortune" to have run across the issue and it was there all along.

That shim, as far as I know, is for the Windsor family, and not the 400 or 460 engines. But if the snout shape and bolt patter are the same (are they?) then it may work for multiple engine series.
It's not for angling the starter however, like it sounded like bullnose did. It's for spacing it equally "outward" (forward away from the ring gear) so might not accomplish the same thing.
And the fact that at least some of your replacement starters sounded good for the first few starts, then deteriorated into one evil noise or another, still kind of makes it sound like it's a starter issue instead of an engine setup issue.
But hey, shimming the starter so that it angles slightly away from the ring gear to verify that it's not being engaged too tightly sounds like it's worth a shot to me at this point!

Paul

 

Still zero luck. I took apart an old starter that didnt work installed and installed the bose cone to the bellhousing. I then took the gear and inserted it into the pilot of the nose cone and manualy pushed the gear out as well as turned to see if the gear would mesh/stay meshed. It did even with a small prybar applying load. I took out the newest starter i have, the 460 manual starter that worked and sounded nice and bench tested it. Works just as it should. Im unsure why the torn apart starter meshes and stays meshed with load works but the reman starter does not. Any ideas would be great

 

Solved!! powermaster XS torque starter ford 460

 

I’m having g same issue with 87 F250 2wd 460/c6. Did you say the Powermaster XS Torque for a 460 worked? I’m assuming that’s a starter model/brand?

 

Hi Belouder,
It worked for me. The pictured is for a 1979 manual transmission 2 bolt stater. Hope it helps. It came with depth shims as well. Nicely built very solid absolutely worth the money.

Powermaster XS Torque.
The pictured is for a manual transmission and is for a four wheel drive. Parts number probably wouldn't fit your application.
i was having to use a automatic (longer nose cone.) And bent old soft brass vehicle keys as spacers. The stock starter for the year on my engine 79 external balanced didn't even make contact with the fly wheel. The starter for the year of the transmission 85.
I haven't had any issues and am ordering one for my zj 4.0l and cj 4.2l.
if you have doubts call there order line. Hope it works out.