There was a change in ring gear tooth count with the introduction of 12 volt starters, but the flywheels are interchangeable. I am using a '50 216 bellhousing and a 6 volt 216 starter on my '62 261 with a '62 261 flywheel with 11" clutch. The inner diameters of the ring gears are differant but I had a machinist turn down the diameter of my flywheel to fit the older, thicker 216 ring gear that I took off my old flywheel.

My reason for doing this was that I wanted to keep a foot stomp starter and I didn't want to have to find a 12 volt version, and I wanted to be able to have the truck be six volt if I wanted to. I wanted the heavy duty clutch that the 261 came with, instead of the 9" clutch that was on the 216. The machine work cost me $50.

I have another 235 flywheel that has a 10-1/4" clutch, which should be the standard 235 size.

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