All Small Six Starter to flywheel seal?

[JoeCrozier]

In the process of rebuilding my 144, and was about to put the starter back on. It came with a gasket looking thing:


I figured it’d be some easy to find gasket at autozone or something but the only thing I KNOW is it, is this:

Pardon Our Interruption...

For $50.

I did find this which might be the correct fit:

1954 Ford Restoration Parts Starter To Flywheel Housing Seal - 6436-BR

Ford Starter To Flywheel Housing Seal, number 6436-BR from RubberTheRightWay.com

www.rubbertherightway.com

But am I overthinking it? Is there a generic “starter seal” or something I can find locally?

 

[aussie7mains]

Never seen one, not necessary.

 

[drag-200stang]

None of the 66 and up small sixs have them.
No wonder the starter on my Dad's early comet came loose.

 

[Bronctopia]

Any chance this is a starter SHIM?
Some engines needed them to align the bendix to flywheel clearances/throw.

 

[JoeCrozier]

I am no expert (first engine rebuild), but it definitely seems like it’s that “starter to flywheel seal” listed above. But yea I just found it odd that almost nowhere online has them and most people (including some on this thread) had never seen them before.

Whether or not it functions as/could be replaced by a shim…

 

[philford]

my guess it the old one has seen its day through ruber rot even theough it is NOS.

a round gasket isnt; hard to just make but Im not sure why it needs the lip.

 

[JoeCrozier]

my guess it the old one has seen its day through ruber rot even theough it is NOS.

a round gasket isnt; hard to just make but Im not sure why it needs the lip.

Yea, agreed. IF I do order it, I'll risk the ten dollar one that looks newer from that second link. Or as you said, I'll just make a gasket

 

[philford]

I was thinking if I wanted that lip Id sandwich in a piece of thin copper sheet along with thick gasket. thats easily bent into the lip shape with just your fingers.. then clean and solder it, that will make the coppper more ridgid, maybe its to keep water drips out, Im not sure why.

Ill often just make my own gaskets Just buy the paper in a roll a few different thicknesses and you are usually fine unless its a complicated one..

I dont know if everyone knows the trick , lay the gasket over the housing it fits, take a very small ball peen hammer and peen along the edges and around bolt holes, dont go crazy , just lots of light taps.. only hit near the corners and edges. that cuts the shape out easily.. or at least marks it out accurately. of course you can mark with a pen and use scissors too, nothing hard to do.. that often saves waiting or looking for gaskets and if you buy good quality paper it's a decent quality gasket. lots of the omes you order are a bit on the thin side. having a roll of the stuff is a card up your sleeve when a waterpump has to suddenly come off or similar.

if its something that fits bolt holes, Ill peen threre first, pop out the holes then use the bolts to stop it from wandering around as you work.
for the starter Id just use a protractor draw a hole, and use sharp scissors. if you want rubber, an inner tube might do.

I found a loacl place that repairs pumps , thye buy rubber in 3 foot wide rolls so I can buy it in various thicknesses, plumbers also use a good type for making flange seals on large diameter pipe connections.

 

[JoeCrozier]

I was thinking if I wanted that lip Id sandwich in a piece of thin copper sheet along with thick gasket. thats easily bent into the lip shape with just your fingers.. then clean and solder it, that will make the coppper more ridgid, maybe its to keep water drips out, Im not sure why.

Ill often just make my own gaskets Just buy the paper in a roll a few different thicknesses and you are usually fine unless its a complicated one..

I dont know if everyone knows the trick , lay the gasket over the housing it fits, take a very small ball peen hammer and peen along the edges and around bolt holes, dont go crazy , just lots of light taps.. only hit near the corners and edges. that cuts the shape out easily.. or at least marks it out accurately. of course you can mark with a pen and use scissors too, nothing hard to do.. that often saves waiting or looking for gaskets and if you buy good quality paper it's a decent quality gasket. lots of the omes you order are a bit on the thin side. having a roll of the stuff is a card up your sleeve when a waterpump has to suddenly come off or similar.

if its something that fits bolt holes, Ill peen threre first, pop out the holes then use the bolts to stop it from wandering around as you work.
for the starter Id just use a protractor draw a hole, and use sharp scissors.

Great tips! Thank you.

I bought a roll of gasket material the other day because i was tired of buying individual hard to find gaskets off the internet and paying for shipping for a 2 dollar gasket. I have a laser cutter I tried to use to cut clean edges but my laser isnt powerful enough, just burned the general pattern in. Ended up cutting it manually.

 

[philford]

not highly recommended but in a pinc Ill use a permatex gasket coating product and if you want to paint both sides with that even a cornflakes box will work. Id rather use a better quality gasket paper, thats what you do if you are stuck on an island lol..

Im less of a fan of RTV but it works too.

sometimes Ill use the permatex stuff just on one side knowint that if taken apart the side with the permatex will stay and can be reused. the stuff i have that Ill usually go to, is dark, never relly dries it sticks to anythign like crap to a blanket and is oil and fuel resistant. its not good to bridge gaps.

bits of RTV can probably reap havoc if it gets inside the engine and floats around, might plug a oil galley or the oil pump or something bad like that. I think lots will use it becaue its fast and it will seal. it kind of bugs me as Ill see it slopped around and looks messy, but sure, it has its place. its temp resistant it dries so it can bridge gaps.

 

[Bronctopia]

If you are deep enough into gasket making to buy rolls of gasket sheet,
Do yourself a favor and get a hole punch set.
You can make your own in a pinch by Dremel sharpening pipe and conduit, but at $10 for a hardened steel set, it doesn't really pay labor-wise.
Also an essential part of grommet installation kit.

 

[JoeCrozier]

If you are deep enough into gasket making to buy rolls of gasket sheet,
Do yourself a favor and get a hole punch set.
You can make your own in a pinch by Dremel sharpening pipe and conduit, but at $10 for a hardened steel set, it doesn't really pay labor-wise.
Also an essential part of grommet installation kit.

This thread has morphed but I like the direction its going. Great tips

 

[philford]

I bought a cheap set of hole punches , they work good enough for gaskets.. wood block underneath. . a leather punch ( they type you squeeze with a rotating turrett thing for different sizes, I use if I want little holes. small ball peen hammers are a bit uncommon bui I like the couple of really little and very old ones I have.
since Im so off course anyway..
really old ones seem of the best quality, its a good thing to look for at garage sales etc. linseed oil and turpentine is good for the wooden handles. of wood handled tools, soak them good in that and dry right down, it helps them last. the turpentine thins the linseed oil so it penetrates, it hardens the outer layer.. itll help your shovel or axe feel smooth and be nice to use. every year I try to wipe all my garden tools with that. otherwise the handles rot, splinter and that's hard on your hands. on antiques and new wood parts I use it too, my favorite finish. if its a old antique with some dirt Ill add vinegar, just shake it, it separates. dont worry about that, its normal the vinegar jsut helps clean.

1:1:1 is a good mix. most wood finishes coat the wood, thats an in the wood finish, it looks beautiful as the ribbon and chattoyance and beauty isn't filered by light passing through the finish , twice. It is with a coating. Dust around the area, presents no issue, it is with spray finishes like laquer, poly, etc. after a few coats Ill take wet ofr dry paper wet it wit the same stuff and sand it in then oit gets things looking as nice as they can.. if it has a previous finish like shellac or laqquer , that blocks pores so it really only affects the open pores, areas of fine scratches etc.. Just dry it right down, clean Tee shirts. sometimes I replace linseed oil with clear Danish oil, same thing essentially. I dont knowhow they extract the oil from the Danes ;-)
One of life's myusteries.

french polising is also an in the wood finish, thats why it is so beautiful, if properly done. if you coat wooden tool handles with an over the wood finish that's what your hands touch, the finish, not having that feels nicer. persperation doesn;t penetrate over the wood finishes. with somethign like an axe handle I think it makes a differenc as you are likely to use it for longer durations. the oils from your skin only help.

 

[bmbm40]

In the process of rebuilding my 144, and was about to put the starter back on. It came with a gasket looking thing:
View attachment 25343

I figured it’d be some easy to find gasket at autozone or something but the only thing I KNOW is it, is this:

Pardon Our Interruption...

For $50.

I did find this which might be the correct fit:

1954 Ford Restoration Parts Starter To Flywheel Housing Seal - 6436-BR

Ford Starter To Flywheel Housing Seal, number 6436-BR from RubberTheRightWay.com

www.rubbertherightway.com

But am I overthinking it? Is there a generic “starter seal” or something I can find locally?

I may have missed the details along the way but is your 144 rebuild to be stock specs or some performance mods?

 

[JoeCrozier]

I may have missed the details along the way but is your 144 rebuild to be stock specs or some performance mods?

To answer, my rebuild is: "Hopefully it turns back on".

Haha what I mean is its my first ever engine rebuild, and it was a free engine I got off craigslist that was laying in the dirt outside. Building it with a shoestring budget to not piss off my wife.

I did swap out the original holley 1904 carb for a glass bowl one, and I will be putting on some headers just because the old exhaust pipe was rusted and destroyed getting it off.




Update on the topic of the thread: I just cut a gasket out of gasket material and went with that. I wanted to put SOMETHING on to replace the thing I took off, but figured (per the comments) that it didnt need to be super precise.