[HO455]

Got some quality time laying on my back under the WMB today. Hooked up the exhaust, torque converter and starter. The starter part turned into a bit of an annoying adventure. The old engine had the 153 tooth flexplate and the starter with the even bolt pattern. I had installed the flexplate on the new engine, but when I shoved the starter in place there was only one bolt hole. Of course I had to wait till the engine was installed and bolted down before I noticed this little issue. GRRrrrrrr! My options were to pull the engine and change the flexplate to the larger one and get a starter with the angle bolt pattern. Or pull the tranny and do the same, or drill and tap the block so I could use the flexplate and starter I have. The path of least resistance was to drill and the tap the block. (In the first picture the missing hole is circled) The biggest challenge would be making sure the hole ended up being in the right place and perpendicular to the starter base. My plan was to use the starter as a jig by bolting in place with the one bolt and drilling down through the other hole. I had to use a 6" long bit to reach through the hole on the starter. I used a piece of 3/8" tubing as a bushing to keep the 5/16" drill bit centered in the bolt hole. I flared one end of the tubing so it would be locked in place between the block and starter base. (Second photo shows the tubing on the end of the bit. After lining the starter up I locked it down with the one bolt and drilled the hole. Afterwards i removed the starter and tapped the hole. As there was very little room I had to use a ratcheting tap handle to turn the tap. After blowing the new hole out with air I snugged the starter down and checked the clearance between the gears and installed shims. It took about an hour to complete. Now all I need is the new radiator to arrive to finish the reassembly.