Starter Blockoff Plate Template

I took some time this morning to finish all the vacuum pump connections and installing the wiring harness discussed a few posts back. Before installing the batteries in the firewall rack, I needed to measure the starter block-off hole to make a cover for where the starter motor used to be.


Here's the engine compartment with the engine wiring harness plugged in and tie-wrapped to several locations. It's hard to see, but you can just make it out as a black tube with pieces of red electrical tape on it. I tested out the vacuum pump system by attaching the pressure switch and connecting a small 12V UPS battery. It seems to work fine, but I have a small leak at one of the fittings. I probably need to put some vacuum grease around the fittings where the hose connects to make a tight seal.


Here's a .jpg file of a rubbing for the starter blockoff plate. It's accurate at 100x100dpi. If you click on the picture to enlarge it and save the result, you should be able to print it out (in MS-Paint or something like it) and get a pattern for your own transmission. Don't forget to tell the paint program that the picture is 100x100dpi and print it out a 100% scale.


Since I have the original rubbing, I'm going to simply trace it out on this 1/16" piece of steel I found and cut it out with a sabre saw. The two bolt holes are 10mm in diameter. Others might just do their own rubbing instead of using the template above.


Here's the starter block-off plate installed underneath the firewall rack. The heavy bolt on the upper right is overkill but came from the original car. The lower left bolt holds the transmission to the motor adapter plate.