Finally building my 64 Comet

[smithhe]

Went to take it to a cruise-in the other night and the starter bolts stripped out on the trans and the starter was dangling under the car, this is the second time this has happened. First time it happened I drilled and tapped for a bigger bolt and locktite the bolts, why has this happened twice??

Strange deal. Maybe a hairline crack in the bellhousing where the starter mounts?
It would take severe vibration to bust Loctite loose.

Joe

Well it’s a 347 stroker with very small Polly bushings in the motor mounts and it will rattle your teeth loose lol, that might be the cause

[Joe Travers]

Well it’s a 347 stroker with very small Polly bushings in the motor mounts and it will rattle your teeth loose lol, that might be the cause

You can fix that problem in 30 seconds w/ a flat-bladed screwdriver

Joe

[poboyjo65]

Maybe you have the wrong starter . possibly you have the long nose cone & need the short one ? think it was groover put the wrong one on ,maybe he'll have some input. I think ones for an auto & one for a manual trans. but yea I think something is not right.

When it’s all put together it fits like a glove and turns the engine over super easy without any grinding or anything so I would assume it’s the right style starter. But I could be wrong haha

Is it auto? is it the stock flexplate/flywheel or?
but while you have it out,probably better measure & count teeth ;

[smithhe]

Maybe you have the wrong starter . possibly you have the long nose cone & need the short one ? think it was groover put the wrong one on ,maybe he'll have some input. I think ones for an auto & one for a manual trans. but yea I think something is not right.

When it’s all put together it fits like a glove and turns the engine over super easy without any grinding or anything so I would assume it’s the right style starter. But I could be wrong haha

Is it auto? is it the stock flexplate/flywheel or?
but while you have it out,probably better measure & count teeth ;

I have the 3/4in. Offset starter and I have a 164 tooth flywheel on a AT, so from the looks of it that should be the correct setup. Had to go back in the archives of my receipt book for the car to find which starter I bought, definitely didn’t need that reminder of how much I’ve spent on this car lol.

[poboyjo65]

Did you put the motor shim plate in? I dont see it in this pic though not sure I should be able to ,maybe you just have the inspection cover off here. but it certainly needs it, & if it doesn't have it possibly could be the problem. is it a newer c4?

[poboyjo65]

I think I do see the shim now. I would measure the motor registry hole & starter to be sure they sent what is on the receipt . something isnt happy if it spit that starter out twice.

[smithhe]

Well after the whole debacle of the starter I pushed the car in the garage and didn’t touch it for a few weeks out of frustration, but yesterday I was off work and decided to go do a damage report. Lo and behold the bolts didn’t strip the threads they had just backed themselves out. So I got some red locktite and cleaned all the threads and the bolts and put them back in so hopefully they won’t back out again. I checked the spacing and shims and everything while I was down there and it all checked out so I don’t know the reason they backed out, but hopefully that locktite holds them in there this time.

[Boss/Cyclone]

Well after the whole debacle of the starter I pushed the car in the garage and didn’t touch it for a few weeks out of frustration, but yesterday I was off work and decided to go do a damage report. Lo and behold the bolts didn’t strip the threads they had just backed themselves out. So I got some red locktite and cleaned all the threads and the bolts and put them back in so hopefully they won’t back out again. I checked the spacing and shims and everything while I was down there and it all checked out so I don’t know the reason they backed out, but hopefully that locktite holds them in there this time.

That seems to be good news.

[smithhe]

So I’ve decided to swap from my automatic C4 to a top loader 4 speed and make this car more fun to drive. I have a question though and I am wondering if any of you could help, my car is a bench seat car and I have 4point harnesses that hold me in pretty tight in the seat. It seems like the stock shifter position for a 4speed in these cars is very far forward and I’m afraid I’m not gonna be able to fully reach 1st and 3rd. If I use a mustang location shifter will it hit my bench seat? Also the shifter setup for our 64 cars is $875 from David Kee and that’s pretty steep for me to buy it and not be able to reach the dang shifter lol.

[SASSY]

Can't help with your question but like your plan!!

[poboyjo65]

Bench seat is not the only problem. the reason the shifter is so far forward is the hump brace is in the way so unless you cut that out of the way like I did there isn't room for the shifter. But like a lot of things on these cars if you want it bad enough it is do-able. I had moved my bucket seats back 3'' for more leg room, so I wanted the shifter back there with me & easy to reach. I used a long tailshaft toploader from a torino. I had to trim off the hump brace & made my own shifter cover for the interior. But cutting the hump brace creates a new problem.

where you need to cut it removes the bolt hole where the crossmember bolts on. so I had to make a new cross member for the trans mount. yea snowball affect.
here is the piece I cut out laying next to a spare hump brace I had on hand to show where it was cut from ,the bigger hole in the brace to the far right is for the park brake cable;


It may be easier to make a longer shifter arm or change the angle of it,but with the side effect of a longer throw.

[pfleuret]

I moved my seat back 3” use about 2” of that. A belt and shoulder harness. The shifter is a bit of a stretch. And the stock throw already too long for my liking. But left it as is for the time being anyway. Not great but ok.

[smithhe]

Bench seat is not the only problem. the reason the shifter is so far forward is the hump brace is in the way so unless you cut that out of the way like I did there isn't room for the shifter. But like a lot of things on these cars if you want it bad enough it is do-able. I had moved my bucket seats back 3'' for more leg room, so I wanted the shifter back there with me & easy to reach. I used a long tailshaft toploader from a torino. I had to trim off the hump brace & made my own shifter cover for the interior. But cutting the hump brace creates a new problem.

where you need to cut it removes the bolt hole where the crossmember bolts on. so I had to make a new cross member for the trans mount. yea snowball affect.
here is the piece I cut out laying next to a spare hump brace I had on hand to show where it was cut from ,the bigger hole in the brace to the far right is for the park brake cable;


It may be easier to make a longer shifter arm or change the angle of it,but with the side effect of a longer throw.

I had to make a custom mount for my automatic so making another custom trans mount isn’t a problem really, if I use a mustang top loader would that mount work?

[Joe Travers]

if I use a mustang top loader would that mount work?

Mustang shifter mounts where the tailhousing necks down.
Measure the Comet/Falcon location back to that point, should get you in the ballpark.

Joe

[SASSY]

I made the trans mount beefy enough to be the xmember.