Slick 60's

So about 3 hours ago I installed my new c4 tranny into my 65...the motor is a 351w...anyways after I installed the tranny I realized that I forgot to install the big metal plate that goes between the flywheel and the motor..from what I have read it is called the motor to trans spacer plate??my question is does it actually serve a purpose other than acting as a dust cover or do I need to pull the tranny and install the plate?


Thanks

If Ford put it there, you should put it back

i did that & ran it that way..... until it quit working


put it in there

That plate has a centering hole that holds the starter in the right place. The bolt holes won't do it, they are a tad loose. Put the plate in!

The vehicle can be run without the plate but due to tolerance stack it can often kill an engine or trans. In about 1962 Ford started phasing the plates into the assembly process. When a plate is used the bellhousing is thinner by the thickness of the plate and if the assembly tolerance is tight then the trans will destroy the thrust bearing on the crank and/or the front pump of the trans. It may be fine but when everything is hot and the convertor balloons it may not be fine at all. The starter is not really a major concern but it is used to index the starter exactly right but you can get the same location just being carefull when assembling (remember a 62 Ford 390 did not have the plate and a 63 did and they used the same starter and flywheel!). The thickness of the plate may not seem like much but the overall assembly tolerance is not much either. Hawkrod

Thanks guys..I'm going go ahead and put the plate on