 |
This picture shows the adapter plate that allows us to bolt a Powerglide up to the Big Block Mopar. Flexplate and the adapter for the front of the converter are also visible. We are using a JW Ultra Bell with GM bolt pattern but a regular stock case or Dedenbear Powerglide case will bolt right up. |
You can’t get your Mopar bolted up to the Powerglide without the right flexplate and we called on Meziere again to help us out. They DID NOT DISAPPOINT! They have a new line of True Billet Flexplates made from 4340 steel alloy and they have them for us Mopar guys. Available for either 6 or 8-bolt crankshafts they are the without a doubt the nicest piece from the aftermarket world I have seen yet. There is no welded-on ring gear, it is CNC-machined at the same time the flywheel is made. This eliminates misalignment and weakness that is standard fare with every other flexplate on the market. The photos pretty much tell the story. If you have used or are using the other Mopar to Powerglide flexplates on the market today you owe it to yourself to take a serious look at the Meziere True Billet Flexplates. The hardware that comes with them, the spacer for the flexplate to locate the flywheel correctly for the starter are all CNC-machined and dead-on for final fit. (No filing, grinding and reworking that us Mopar guys are so accustomed to is required!!)
The Meziere True Billet Flexplate for the Mopar to Powerglide setup. Notice the teeth are actually part of the flexplate. They are also machined at a "10-pitch" for more tooth engagement. This means a special starter but why in the world would you use a junkyard starter on this flexplate or with your high performance engine? |
|
||
This is the True Start starter from Meziere as we received it. Powerful and top quality, it will give us "no-hassle starts" for years to come |
|
You can’t go racing unless you can get the engine cranked over and the starter is a commonly overlooked piece of equipment on Mopar-powered machines. It is common to see high-powered Mopar engines using the $99.00 Chrysler mini-starters. Sure, they work (most of the time)and they are a pretty good piece but if you have starting issues or clearance problems with your chassis or oiling system take a good look at the most powerful Mopar starter on the planet, the Meziere True Start 10-pitch starter. We put one on the 540/E85 to make sure we could get it going round after round, year after year. The 10-pitch gear design allows for more tooth engagement and is the perfect match for the True Billet 10-pitch flexplate.
 Always check the starter gear engagement into the flexplate teeth. We had about .025" gear lash and about.080" clearance from starter gear to flexplate when the starter was retracted. The starter comes with shims and can be rotated for block or oil pan clearance. |
There are several factors that will make this starter and flexplate combination live under the harsh environment of drag racing and high performance street use. Since these are not “loose tolerance” mass-produced items it is critical to get proper engagement of the starter gear and flexplate teeth. All we did was grab the starter gear with pliers and pull it out into the flexplate. You need about .025” gear lash. If it is too loose it puts excessive load on the starter gear. If it is too tight it might not disengage when the engine starts. Shims are included with the starter to get it correct. Do whatever is needed to get this “gear lash” correct as it will effect the life of the components. As for engagement or depth of the starter gear, we had .080” from the starter gear to the flexplate and it engaged fully into the True Billet flexplate. You are looking for .060” to .140” to get proper engagement and still have enough room that the G-force of the launch won’t push the gear into the flexplate.
The only way you get started to go racing is if that new starter will crank over. To get that done you need a good battery, excellent connections, good ground cables and a powerful battery. We used 2/0 gauge copper welding cable for power to the starter and from past experience (namely problems) we run another 2/0 gauge ground cable from the starter to the battery so we have a trouble-free circuit. We did not want to use the chromoly chassis to be our only ground. We use that same theory throughout the car. While the chassis may work for a lot of you I guarantee you will see less problems if you ground all electronics and your starter directly back to the battery.
The body is back from the body shop and it continues the “basically black” color theme. Deluxe Auto Body in Janesville went from never painting a dragster body to doing both of mine in two months and I have to say, Tim did a great job. Final pictures will be out this month in MoparMax and hopefully they will be from the starting line on our initial weekend out.
Watch the Project 540/E85 Engine tech story for the latest news on the home-built bullet for the “Back-2-Basics III” dragster. Some interesting and frustrating highlights await our readers.