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1968 Mercury mystery plate, what is this thing called, and does it go on before the transmission goes in?

2K views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  1964Fastback 
#1 ·
Hi everyone. I can't find this part in any diagram, or in any discussion about removing or reinstalling a C6 transmission from a late 1960's Ford. I searched for terms like "transmission slip yoke heat shield, insulator, protector", etc.

It is held onto the subframe by 6, 3/8th bolts with captured 1 and 1/8th washers, which are concave, and have little spikes on them. The two large holes are toward the front and must allow access to something, maybe seat bolts?

Also, in my bag of fasteners labelled "transmission", I only found one of these carriage-type bolts with holes in it for cotter pins or wire. I seem to remember it was holding the crossmember onto the transmission mount, and the flat side was down, and the threads were up, but my memory has been wrong before. Were there two originally, and if so, do I really need two with the holes?

Also, which way does the transmission cross-member attach to the car, it is offset, and it has an R stamped on it, does that mean "right side/passenger side" or something else?

Is any Loctite recommended for any of these bolts, red or blue?

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#5 · (Edited)
Update...It looks like these carriage bolts were what mounted the cross-member to the sub-frame. You can see the indentation of the washer in the metal. There is a set of two for sale on Ebay right now. Not sure I want to pay $50, wait a week, and have a left over.

They have castellated nuts, while mine just had a regular nut, and that was only on one side, I don't remember what came off the other side, and only found one bolt like this in the bag. So now I'm wondering if I can bush-fix something myself by purchasing a carriage bolt and just drilling the hole myself? Also, I think I will ditch the original lock washer and go with something larger so it doesn't dig into the metal.

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Update...I manufactured my own bolt, test-fit the cross-member, and it looks like it will work. I found a stainless steel 1/2" by 1 1/4 carriage bolt, extra thick grade 8 washer, castle nut, and nut at Ace hardware. I drilled a pilot hole in the regular nut empty, then screwed it onto the carriage bolt to approximate the hole location on the original bolt. Then I drilled through with a 3/32 bit, which broke just as I finished the cut; total cost including the bit, about $10.

My understanding is stainless steel is roughly equal to grade 5, so should be fine for this application.

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