[Emrock32]

I have a 1970 mustang with a 302, '83 Aod tranny,164 tooth flywheel, with a 157 tooth starter. All I am hearing us grinding noises. Wrong starter?

 

[fordman460]

I have a 1970 mustang with a 302, '83 Aod tranny,164 tooth flywheel, with a 157 tooth starter. All I am hearing us grinding noises. Wrong starter?

Yup.

 

[PSIG]

The AOD 164T flex plate and "157T starter" are compatible. I run that combo myself (and 157T flex plate with 164T starter), as all auto tranny starters are the same for SBF. If you can look at the nose of the starter from the side and see most of the drive gear, it's compatible. If the starter drive gear is tucked mostly down in the body, it's not. Do you have a block plate between the engine block and tranny bellhousing?

David

 

[fordman460]

Doh! If I would have offered a more detailed answer, I would have caught myself! Thanks David, for the way you handled it.
Just ignore my stupidity. Yup, glad to be here with my rosy red cheeks!
Is this pretty much it David? Long nose is for all 157 and 164T autos and 157T manuals. The short nose is only for 164T manual transmissions.

 

[PSIG]

Just about it. I don't want to confuse anyone if mixing early and late models, as that rule is for everything including 5.0L (1980+ manual). So here is the whole story (early and late SBF), just so the wrong combo isn't assumed:

• Long nose all auto except oddballs (Mustang II etc.)

• Long nose all 157T manual cars 1980+

• Short nose all 164T

• Short nose some pre-1980 157T manual

There are other oddballs besides the MII, like some Bronco 302s, late trucks and vans, and a few others. That's why I stated about the long/short drive gears, as he could have one of the early short nose 157T starters. Still not sure? See crappy pic below. At the end of the day, the SBF's with ring gears less than 1/4" from the block use the short nose, and the ones with ring gears further out use the long nose. It's easier to lump the short/long fit depending on what years you're talking. There are only a handful of SBF starter types, and just two of them cover 95% of anything we see. Maybe I should just change my rules to whether it can fit a pencil or not... LOL

So, if you want a late-model PMGR mini-starter for your '67 302 with a C4 or AOD conversion for cheap, just grab a long nose version from perhaps a '92-'95 Mustang 5-speed or auto, or an '89-'97 T-bird 3.8L V6 (the 3.8 is SBF pattern), or a '92-'97 4.9L (300ci) F-150 pickup auto (yep, SBF pattern and long nose again), or ...

David

Here I can't even fit a standard pencil between the block plate and this 164T manual flywheel, so it definitely takes a short-nose starter:

 

[fordman460]

Thanks David. Wounder where Emrock32 is?

 

[Emrock32]

Thanks for the help!

 

[DanH]

I really liked this*information.

this dude is A SMAMMER