SBF Engine Seperator Plates

[85_Ranger4x4]

The whole thing came about when I tried to reuse the 4.2 seperator plate I got with my M5ODR2 with a '96 302 starter. The starter hole was just barely too small. The plate from my C5 was identical but didn't have a neat little foam seal around the crank. Faced with the rather terrifying prospect of either pulling the t-case/trans or engine or returning a defective starter to Rockauto I did some research and discovered the dark world of differing Ford starter depths and the different sized holes Ford put in the seperator plates to try to keep people from mixing and matching them.

I dremelled mine to make the hole larger and it worked. It was tedius and all around a PITA, I don't really recommend doing it. It really burned me because I know I have seen them laying around JY's after people pull engines out of F-150's but I had never seen anywhere (before like three nights of searching) that they changed the starter holes. I suppose in the grand scheme of things nobody converts a 157t flywheel to a 164t flywheel in the same trans so it is rarely an issue... until you put a V6 trans behind a V8. So I made a little diagram about what to check and what is going on.

 

[corerftech]

Refreshing this- as it’s pertinent to my swap.

What your saying is you MUST use a v8/302/351 f150/M5R2 separator plate, period???

I will have the same problem and got a pristine trans but I have no plate at all. I too have attempted to find OE plates for various in the last couple of years and zilch. Had to pull myself if/when a car shows up at the yard.
This is a concern I have for my project. In TN, nobody drives a manual! Except me, or so it seems.
Please confirm my above summation.

mike

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Yes, you must have one. It is a spacer for the engine to trans connection and it is the only thing that locates the starter.

If you get in a bind you can modify the wrong 164t plate by very carefully enlarging the starter hole but it is s mild pita to do.

 

[corerftech]

I knew I needed one but looking for verification that ONLY the OE SBF manual trans will do.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I knew I needed one but looking for verification that ONLY the OE SBF manual trans will do.

Only difference is the starter hole, 3.5 years and four TRS roundups in and I have had 0 issues with my modified one. Just be careful and try to take off material evenly so you don't waller the hole off center.