MTFCA Forum

Can someone tell me which way to press in a replacement brass shouldered front starter bushing? Does the smaller diameter face into the cavity or the larger? Thanks

Assuming the shoulder is 5/16” tall, then it should face out. The large diameter goes into the cavity.

Use the ball bearing.

Thanks. I already brought the bushing. Should work out fine with a tad of grease.

Bushings are fine if you have the tools to line it up with the snout and ream if needed. Using the bearing setup, it is more or less self-aligning.

I'll put it in with an arbor press. Its a light press fit snd the bushing is so beefy it wont contract the shaft hole.

The problem with the starter brush cap replacement brass bushing is as Mark pointed out. It needs to be pressed (seated) into the cap stamping AND align reamed which requires some special tools AND it may need to be spot faced (more special tools) to get the armature lengthways oriented correctly inside the case assembly AND when your done you have no way to perodically lube which was the main fault with the original Ford Babbitt bushing.
The pre lubed ball bearing/spacer solution is easy to install, can be easily aligned, is prelubed and will last another 100 years because the duty cycle of the starting motor is relatively low.
Why anyone would waste time with the brass bushing which has a long term problem is beyond me?
Ron Patterson

How are you aligning the bearing? Its a press fit to the housing just like the brass bushing, correct? The bushing can be pressed in enough to get the right axial shaft clearance and if its too tight, the bushing can be turned while in the housing. If the shaft end is greased, it should be fine for years. In the mean time, 100 things will fail on the T before that bushing fails.