Several frustrating weeks...
After braking apart the engine and transmission, I had to wait for a buddy to send me a second motor plate so I could double them up for support of the starter without the transmission mated to the engine. While I waited on it to arrive, I blasted...
detailed...
and mounted the fresh air intake to the core support...
mounted the dual horns...
and the lower and upper rubber radiator supports (not sure yet if I like the bright fasteners??)...
When the motor plate arrived, my buddy Jim and I got the double plates, flywheel and starter mounted up only to discover we had VERY LITTLE clearance between the starter snout and the flywheel, so we pulled it back off and I filed away some material to gain a bit more daylight between the parts...
With the starter remounted, we gave it a bump to see how much deflection we were getting during engagement. Wasn't too bad, so we tried several different locations until we ...found the best location to brace the motor plate to minimize the flexing, then we gave her a good spin and noticed the starter gear wasn't fully retracting upon release. We played around with relocating the bracing without too much success, so we thought we'd try and light her off to see if the gear would retract under load.
After braking apart the engine and transmission, I had to wait for a buddy to send me a second motor plate so I could double them up for support of the starter without the transmission mated to the engine. While I waited on it to arrive, I blasted...
detailed...
and mounted the fresh air intake to the core support...
mounted the dual horns...
and the lower and upper rubber radiator supports (not sure yet if I like the bright fasteners??)...
When the motor plate arrived, my buddy Jim and I got the double plates, flywheel and starter mounted up only to discover we had VERY LITTLE clearance between the starter snout and the flywheel, so we pulled it back off and I filed away some material to gain a bit more daylight between the parts...
With the starter remounted, we gave it a bump to see how much deflection we were getting during engagement. Wasn't too bad, so we tried several different locations until we ...found the best location to brace the motor plate to minimize the flexing, then we gave her a good spin and noticed the starter gear wasn't fully retracting upon release. We played around with relocating the bracing without too much success, so we thought we'd try and light her off to see if the gear would retract under load.
We spent a long time trying to get her to start without success.... we weren't getting any fuel! Frigged around and finally determined the new fuel pump might have failed, so we reinstalled the old one to see if that would work, but evidently the diaphragm was shot in that one as well. We called several local parts stores, but none had anything in stock..... guess there's not much demand anymore for a three port, 460 Ford mechanical fuel pump! LOL
We pulled off the high torque mini starter to see how it operated compared to the original and the first noticeable difference was the WEIGHT.... the mini starter weighed nothing compared to the factory starter! We then applied voltage to the mini and noticed that the bendix gear had a slight dribble to it upon extension, but seemed to snap back as soon as voltage was removed.
The original starter seemed to be operating in slow motion compared to it's miniature cousin, so I'm guessing there is a misalignment between the starter centerline and the crank centerline causing the binding of the gear and flywheel.
I ordered a new fuel pump from RockAuto and the following weekend, we replaced the fuel pump, fed her some REAL gas and then lit off the engine without the tranny and the temporary shims in place and the noise was gone! So we proceeded to reassemble everything.
Lit her off again once reassembled and be damned if the chirp wasn't back!!! 😡 Jim suggested we put the temporary shims back in and see what happens, so we pulled the starter, added the two temporary shims and tried her again....
IT LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After several frustrating weeks, we have finally resolved the issue.... seems the snout of the aftermarket, mini high torque starter was a bit too deep and the flywheel was ever so slightly rubbing the starter gear causing the chirp. TA DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!
Before calling it a day, I temporarily installed the AC dryer to confirm it will clear the fresh air intake when mounted below the battery since a few members questioned whether I had it installed correctly...
everything seems it should be OK (perhaps a slight tweak here or there!).
I'll order the starter shim from RockAuto and install it when it arrives and that should put all engine issues aside... now to get back on track and get her all prepared for going back to Far From Factory for final bodywork and paint!
Stay tuned, it won't be much longer now..... (I HOPE!!)
ZEBRA 3 OUT
We pulled off the high torque mini starter to see how it operated compared to the original and the first noticeable difference was the WEIGHT.... the mini starter weighed nothing compared to the factory starter! We then applied voltage to the mini and noticed that the bendix gear had a slight dribble to it upon extension, but seemed to snap back as soon as voltage was removed.
The original starter seemed to be operating in slow motion compared to it's miniature cousin, so I'm guessing there is a misalignment between the starter centerline and the crank centerline causing the binding of the gear and flywheel.
I ordered a new fuel pump from RockAuto and the following weekend, we replaced the fuel pump, fed her some REAL gas and then lit off the engine without the tranny and the temporary shims in place and the noise was gone! So we proceeded to reassemble everything.
Lit her off again once reassembled and be damned if the chirp wasn't back!!! 😡 Jim suggested we put the temporary shims back in and see what happens, so we pulled the starter, added the two temporary shims and tried her again....
IT LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After several frustrating weeks, we have finally resolved the issue.... seems the snout of the aftermarket, mini high torque starter was a bit too deep and the flywheel was ever so slightly rubbing the starter gear causing the chirp. TA DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!
Before calling it a day, I temporarily installed the AC dryer to confirm it will clear the fresh air intake when mounted below the battery since a few members questioned whether I had it installed correctly...
everything seems it should be OK (perhaps a slight tweak here or there!).
I'll order the starter shim from RockAuto and install it when it arrives and that should put all engine issues aside... now to get back on track and get her all prepared for going back to Far From Factory for final bodywork and paint!
Stay tuned, it won't be much longer now..... (I HOPE!!)
ZEBRA 3 OUT
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