65 Starter

torcobra · September 10, 2007 at 5:23 AM

My starter won't ingauge the fly wheel. I'm not sure why. Could I have the wrong bell housing on it or something else. Terry

C6ZZKGT · September 10, 2007 at 9:58 AM Official Post

Have you had this combination running before? If not, it is possible that you have a C5AA bellhousing which is for a 164 tooth flywheel.

-Fred-

torcobra · September 10, 2007 at 11:45 AM

No, I never ran this before. I need to tear it down and recheck the numbers. If I need a housing what would be the correct number to look for. Terry

bobmannel · September 15, 2007 at 5:16 PM

There are two bellhousing for 6-bolt 289s. One had a casting number starting with C5D and the other was C5A. Each takes its own flywheel, indexing plate, and starter motor. Getting the two mixed up can cause the problem you described. The C5D bellhousing takes a flywheel that can mount a 10" or 10.4" clutch (160 or 157 teeth). The starter motor has a longer nose, and the index plate sets the starter closer to the engine's centerline (not much, but significant). The C5A bellhousing takes a larger flywheel (168 or 164 teeth) which can mount and 11" clutch, although most of them were machined for the smaller 10/10.4" clutch. The ring gear was more forward on the flywheel and larger in diameter. So, the indexing plate had to position the starter motor more outboard, and the starter had to be shorter where it goes into the bellhousing.

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