MA5 5-speed to 5.7 hemi?
Thank you, definitely had no clue about this guy. I've already sourced this one and between balancing and resurfacing I'll still end up cheaper than a new one from him so I'm gonna continue down the current path. Not to say I wouldn't have gone that way if I hadn't already gone to the trouble of finding this one. I agree the pricing doesn't seem unreasonable. If I had more serious aspirations, racing/high rpm, I would definitely be looking for something SFI certified. Thanks again for putting this out there, I looked and looked and thought all of the aftermarket options had dried up for this.
I picked up an 05 starter from a local yard and then found out the part numbers are different from the 01-04. O'Reilly's had one in stock for an 03 and they graciously let me do some comparison. As best as I could tell, short of the motor portion being slightly longer, the pinion and everything else seemed to be exactly the same and a couple electrical connections were shifted in position on the solenoid, nothing significant for my use. I pressed on with mounting it after making another run for more test hardware. The starter required M10-1.5x45 according to a diagram and various part numbers I could find, however, 45 was way longer than necessary.
During install I noticed just how loose, side to side, the starter fits in the bolt holes of the bellhousing. While I'm not unfamiliar with the concept of shimming a starter for proper backlash and/or depth, you can't see this thing at all. It's not like an engine mounted starter with the bell off and just the flywheel mounted to the crank and you can see everything. I'm probably just dumb and missing something but the pictures of the OEM bolts that I can find aren't necked in anyway to take up the room in the giant mounting holes. I guess I just don't see how you could know the proper placement. The factory service manual PDF's I have found don't address this for either an 2003 or an 2005. I'd welcome any advice, experience, etc. in this area.
I did measure the depth to the end of the pinion gear extended and got around 3/4", I got a similar measurement from the face of the bellhousing to the back of the flywheel ring gear. Should mean the depth of engagement isn't a problem? Still no clue if the spacer plate I bought is really necessary for my application, don't see what it would offer short of pushing the transmission out a little further (maybe 1/16" at most). Would also reduce my starter ring gear engagement, lots of cons and not many pros yet. We'll see.
In other news, remember those previously mentioned expensive stainless M10-1.0x30 bolts I bought for mounting the transmission to the bellhousing? In my research to determine what the crank bolt size is for mounting this flywheel I found out it is supposedly the same bolt, slightly shorter. I picked up some M10 washers and thought I was all set. Turns out they will barely thread into the crank, no clue why unless they aren't actually the size the guy told me at the store and they just so happen to match the bolts that mount the MA5 trans to the stock bellhousing. Even the ATI kit I bought for the GM auto trans I was going to run mentions in the parts lists M10x1.0x30. I couldn't find those bolts of course... Regardless, felt like I was losing my mind and just decided to mallet the flywheel on as flat as possible, it fits tight to the crank anyhow. Maybe someone who has experience with this trans can confirm the bolt size that mounts it to the bellhousing?
Also got some hardware to mount the driver's manifold on and check starter clearance and verify the bellhousing clearance was for sure good. It fits! The heat shield on the starter was fairly close but a little tweaking and everything seems good.
Thank you, definitely had no clue about this guy. I've already sourced this one and between balancing and resurfacing I'll still end up cheaper than a new one from him so I'm gonna continue down the current path. Not to say I wouldn't have gone that way if I hadn't already gone to the trouble of finding this one. I agree the pricing doesn't seem unreasonable. If I had more serious aspirations, racing/high rpm, I would definitely be looking for something SFI certified. Thanks again for putting this out there, I looked and looked and thought all of the aftermarket options had dried up for this.
I picked up an 05 starter from a local yard and then found out the part numbers are different from the 01-04. O'Reilly's had one in stock for an 03 and they graciously let me do some comparison. As best as I could tell, short of the motor portion being slightly longer, the pinion and everything else seemed to be exactly the same and a couple electrical connections were shifted in position on the solenoid, nothing significant for my use. I pressed on with mounting it after making another run for more test hardware. The starter required M10-1.5x45 according to a diagram and various part numbers I could find, however, 45 was way longer than necessary.
During install I noticed just how loose, side to side, the starter fits in the bolt holes of the bellhousing. While I'm not unfamiliar with the concept of shimming a starter for proper backlash and/or depth, you can't see this thing at all. It's not like an engine mounted starter with the bell off and just the flywheel mounted to the crank and you can see everything. I'm probably just dumb and missing something but the pictures of the OEM bolts that I can find aren't necked in anyway to take up the room in the giant mounting holes. I guess I just don't see how you could know the proper placement. The factory service manual PDF's I have found don't address this for either an 2003 or an 2005. I'd welcome any advice, experience, etc. in this area.
I did measure the depth to the end of the pinion gear extended and got around 3/4", I got a similar measurement from the face of the bellhousing to the back of the flywheel ring gear. Should mean the depth of engagement isn't a problem? Still no clue if the spacer plate I bought is really necessary for my application, don't see what it would offer short of pushing the transmission out a little further (maybe 1/16" at most). Would also reduce my starter ring gear engagement, lots of cons and not many pros yet. We'll see.
In other news, remember those previously mentioned expensive stainless M10-1.0x30 bolts I bought for mounting the transmission to the bellhousing? In my research to determine what the crank bolt size is for mounting this flywheel I found out it is supposedly the same bolt, slightly shorter. I picked up some M10 washers and thought I was all set. Turns out they will barely thread into the crank, no clue why unless they aren't actually the size the guy told me at the store and they just so happen to match the bolts that mount the MA5 trans to the stock bellhousing. Even the ATI kit I bought for the GM auto trans I was going to run mentions in the parts lists M10x1.0x30. I couldn't find those bolts of course... Regardless, felt like I was losing my mind and just decided to mallet the flywheel on as flat as possible, it fits tight to the crank anyhow. Maybe someone who has experience with this trans can confirm the bolt size that mounts it to the bellhousing?
Also got some hardware to mount the driver's manifold on and check starter clearance and verify the bellhousing clearance was for sure good. It fits! The heat shield on the starter was fairly close but a little tweaking and everything seems good.