OK, seems kinda like a dumb question, but what exactly do these do?
(http://imagehosting.rodsnsods.co.uk/24258c1afb4a494b.jpg)
Picked one up at the weekend supposedly for a 164 tooth flexplate but it's a bit too small. These plates are only thin steel and I know some who haven't used one, Ford obviously designed them for a reason, but what reason is it? The starter bolts to the transmission bellhousing, not the plate, so what purpose do they serve?
Thanks
It provides proper support and sealing for the starter. Plus I'm sure Ford factored in the thickness for proper depth of the convertor. I've seen installations without it, but I wouldn't.
It locates the starter...important to get the right one.
I always looked at these plates as a separator to isolate oil weepage from the rear main seal from the clutch? I guess I really dunno...
Thanks everyone, I'll track down the right one
Even though a thin piece of metal, some call it a block protector. If the flywheel broke or blew up, debris would be inclined to slide to a weaker place to come out...preferably the bottom of the bellhousing. Quicktime (aka Lakewood) calls it a block plate and is nearly .250". I lean toward the OEM engineers were much more concerned about proper starter alignment rather than saving your block from a catastrophic loss. The only bellhousing catastrophic loss I've experienced was a starter drive gear. It banged around in the bell a couple of times and exited via the inspection cover. In my limited experience, the block plate did its job.
I'm with the starter location bunch.....not really strong enough to contain a flywheel come apart...IMHO