This flex plate thing is pissing me off

[Marvin S]

Foe those that read my post earlier I had a problem finding a flex plate for my car.The first one came from mancini it was the small bolt circle which was fine but it has 7/16 holes for the convertor which was not good, I need 5/16 holes.Mancini told me to just line it up the best you can and use some red locktight. I aint buying that. The second one came from TCI it was advertised as small bolt circle, 5/16 bolt, 6-hole forged crank sounds good to me. It came in today but it is the exact same thing that mancini sent but cost 20bucks more. I have e-mailed tci and am waiting on a reply.I think it was Don that said he has one that would work so if you read this let me know.Or anyone else for that matter. Thanks.

[Sterling]

Have you tried a B+M flexplate? I have gotten some with two different bolt hole sizes. Also my dad used special lock washers for allen head bolts to take up the space between the hole of the flexplate and the smaller bolts. He was using the Mopar Performance flexplate and a ATI converter using 5/16" bolts.

[JVMopar]

I wouldn't use the wrong bolts in a flex plate. Just asking for problems

[Dr. Righteous]

The B&M flex plate are a good peice. I can't say the same for their converters.

Good luck getting a response from TCI. I bought a 2800 stall converter from them and had some question. I tried calling, and emailed them several times. When they finally responded to an email they gave me a rather smart ass answer to a simple question.
Will never buy a TCI converter again.

[djswwg]

The Doctor is right. The B&M flexplate is drilled for both size bolts, and I've never seen a stronger unit...........djs

[Marvin S]

Got a response from tci and he said that he contacted MP and was told that the holes were not 7/16 and it would be fine to use it as is.So I went to the garadge and measured them and they where .400 so thats only about .037 shy of 7/16. The bolt still rattels around like a broomstick in a barrell.I guess I should not expect to much from the new aged farmed out chinese made P.O.S that MP is selling. So on the other hand does the B&M plate have something close to 5/16 holes in a 10in circle. The B&M web site dont tell ya much nor does summitt. Thanks

[djswwg]

Marvin, the B&M will work just fine-and waaaaaaay stronger. Go to a speed shop and look at one, you'll be impressed!...........djs

[PLUM_72]

Not to come to anyones defense, but typically drilled or punched holes are sized approximately 1/16" over the nominal bolt diameter that will pass thru the hole. This is a general rule of thumb that is used for most non-precision parts. Using that logic the holes should measure 3/8" or .375. The hole you measured at .400 is a little large, but shouldn't cause an issue. The B&M piece is a good one. You could try to find a special shoulder bolt to use in place of the standard converter bolts. These bolts have a large step or shoulder to them, then size down for a thread. We use shoulder bolts at work all the time, but I've never seen one the size of a converter bolt. But thats not to say there isnt one out there. As a plus most of these bolts are an alloy grade, so they are much stronger than the bolts used for the converter.

[Marvin S]

Thanks guys ill call B&M and see what they say since I cant go to a speed shop and look at one ,as big as this town is we dont have anything but malls that sell t-shirts and various other chineese made crap.I thought about different bolts/little bushings ect.but say you did find or make some bolts they would need to be grade eight.Thanks for all the imput guys

[dacuda]

i had the same problem with the hole sizes.i just tapped the converter holes to 7/16.its a quick fix and the bigger bolt is stronger.good luck