Crap! Help ford trans cover

[Txakura]

I got sucked into helping to put an (89) 351 into an (88) F250 that came with a 300 (6).

 

After finishing most of the work down below I went hunting for the inspection cover for the flywheel. Lo' and behold the original 6 cylinder cover is actually a plate that has an opening for the crank, with a seal that presses against the rear main, and the transmission bolts pass through it. It isn't the half moon dust cover I'm used to (351 w/ c-6, 4.0L Cherokee AX15, '90 Loyale, 87 GL and so on)

 

ok, so. Can I cut it in half and use it to cover the flywheel, or does it need to be in there to space the clutch another .060" from the flywheel?

 

Just about everything is hooked up, I'd rather not pull the engine. perhaps someone has a 351 and TOD 4 with OD and they can tell me what their cover is, a half moon or full shield. Or maybe someone has seen this before.

[GeneralDisorder]

I can sort-of envision what you are talking about, but I've never seen such a thing. Virtually all of my American made experience is with GM products - that's all the military had by the time I went in and since then I've worked on a few like my '69 GMC but like you I've only ever seen the sheet-metal dust cover's below the flywheel/clutch.

 

Wish I could be of more help. I'll ask a friend of mine that has some Ford experience if he has seen anything like that. I know he has a van that used to have a 300 6 in it - has an Isuzu deisel in it now though.

 

GD

[Txakura]

rtm, and it barely mentions it, it's an 'engine cover plate' that was supposed to go on before the flywheel is bolted to the crank...

 

hmmm

 

not sure what to do;

 

a) ignore it

modify it to act as a bell housing shim

c) pull the whole damn thing out, remove the clutch, flywheel and do it all over again

d) drink heavily and pretend I didn't work on it (guess that's just option 'a' restated)

[GeneralDisorder]

If it's only .060" then I would probably ignore it. Sounds like it's some kind of extra seal in case the rear main should leak - maybe to keep seepage from getting on the clutch? Just a WAG.

 

GD

[Txakura]

I can sort-of envision what you are talking about, but I've never seen such a thing. Virtually all of my American made experience is with GM products - that's all the military had by the time I went in and since then I've worked on a few like my '69 GMC but like you I've only ever seen the sheet-metal dust cover's below the flywheel/clutch.

 

Wish I could be of more help. I'll ask a friend of mine that has some Ford experience if he has seen anything like that. I know he has a van that used to have a 300 6 in it - has an Isuzu deisel in it now though.

 

GD

 

yes, my GM's had the covers... but even my 1982 351 F-250XLT had nothing like this, so I'm not sure if it's a carry over from the original 6 cylinder, which does not belong on the 8, or if it is something that needs to be there

 

manual is not helping, going to check on line parts catalogs and see what it lists for the 8 cylinder dust/inspection cover (if anything)

 

man I tell you, this one was not a lot of fun, it got so bad I had to go to two Ford dealerships with a digital camera and talk them into letting me take pics under the hood of some older trucks on their lot

 

it's like getting handed a box of watch parts when you haven't seen a watch, then trying to build it

[Txakura]

If it's only .060" then I would probably ignore it. Sounds like it's some kind of extra seal in case the rear main should leak - maybe to keep seepage from getting on the clutch? Just a WAG.

 

GD

 

I could buy that WAG. Very reasonable. It can't do much for the rear main seal but it can keep most oil from a seal failure out of the bellhousing. (-btw- I did change the rear main when the engine was out).

[nipper]

I would ignore it and see what happens. If it was a spacer of some kind it would go on the crank not around it.

 

 

 

nipper

[Nug]

It's just a splash shield. I've left them off before when they were mangled. I'd ignore it.