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The older FE's, as in my 64 Galexie and 63 T-Bird had a reverse pull starter and differant gear ratio. I think this changed in 1966 or 1965. The reverse pull type have a long shaft and bendix drivethat goes behind the flywheel and is pulled back into the flywheel when engaged.
And to add to what bertha66 said the early type of starter also had a slightly different bellhousing to house the longer starter. I use an old M/T bellhousing with one of these longer "folo-thru" starter drives. G.
On my 64 I used the old stile bellhousing with a newer flywheel and newer starter. the newer starter will bolt to the old type of bellhousing if you change the flywheel.
There may be one other thing that you need to know. Take your old starter with you if you have one to compare with the new. I bought one once that laid up in the bell housing just fine but would not rotate enough to line up the three bolt holes. It took me a while to figure out that the nose or housing around the drive gear was hitting the flywheel. I took it back to NAPA and they found one that worked, I could have ground some off with the same effect but I thought they had given me the wrong one. Steve
82, no they are not all the same. there are at least three differant styles. The earlier ones (65 ? and older ) are differant than the newer ones, and the manual and auto tranny equipped trucks take differant part numbers. The actual starter motors are the same, but the drive and the aluminum noses are differant. Mix them up and you'll know. If your getting a new ( or rebuilt ) starter, don't give the parts store your old one untill the new one is in there and you know it works properly. I have worked at a parts counter before, and those books have plenty of mistakes in them. Compare the new with the old very carefully. Remeber that old carpenter's saying...'measure twice, cut once' DF, @ his Dad's house