Early 302 to C4 fit up issues...

I posted this in the "All Ford Tech Board" also.

I'm bolting a ~1968 C4 with a 26 spline input shaft to a C8 (68) 302 block. I had the tranny rebuilt at a local shop and bought a PA "street stall" torque converter to go with it. I picked up the tranny and torque converter and took it home to bolt it all together. It did not perform well and I ended up taking the car back to the shop that did the rebuild.

This is not intended as a diagnosis of the transmission.

The tranny shop is telling me that there is a fit-up problem between the torque converter and the transmission. This is a 6 bolt bell housing that bolts directly to the front pump as opposed to bolting to the transmission housing. I've got the 157T flex plate and I have the plate installed between the block and bell. The shop is saying the torque converter (which they claim is built correctly and matches a stock converter they have in their shop) is going 0.300" too far into the transmission and is rubbing the pump...causing lots of metal to be deposited in the oil.

Any ideas on the combination of block, tranny, bell housing, torque converter that could be at issue here?

BTW, I am in China and cannot go out to the garage to touch this stuff.

In an effort to help the tranny shop diagnose the part interchangability issue, I'm asking you folks if you have any input on the different bell housing, C4 tranny, and C8 302 block combinations. It appears we may have the wrong converter, but this particular transmission, engine, and bell housing have never been bolted together while in my possession. So, I can't claim, "it worked before".

Any other thoughts on this?

Robert

Since I'm in China and not able to touch this stuff, I had my wife take two other flexplates (I have in the garage) over to the transmission shop. Too late, he had already ordered a new flex plate. Anyway, the new flex plate mounts the torque converter 0.25" closer to the engine without changing the relative location of the ring gear...so, the starter still works like it should and the torque converter is not jammed into the front pump.

Now, I'll have three flexplates laying around the garage.

Does anybody have a listing of Ford part numbers for 302 flex plates from '68 through '79? I'm bolting another 302 into my truck...I sure don't want to have this problem again.

Robert

Hui shuo putonghua ma? Ni zai zhonguo gan shenme ne?