Would you want to leave home after 60 years? Stick a pry bar between the starter (the front end) and the block and give a little nudge.

 

Theres no space to get in to

 

If you have a "dead blow" or a 2lb'der hammer, hit it a few times, it'll break free. Just don't be under it!

 

^^This. Its possible the gear is seized and stuck in the teeth of the flywheel(working under the assumption here that you are replacing the starter because it failed). Also sometimes aluminum corrosion will sometimes bond with a seperate mating surface(It seems the aluminum wheels will often attach themselves quite securely to the steel wheel hub in my daily driver...to the point that I have started applying a thin film of oil between the 2 to prevent this). Either way a hammer works....any old sledge is fine if you dont plan on re-using the starter...deadblow if you do.

 

I have a small dead blow hammer that I’ve already tried hitting it with. I’ll hit it harder this evening and see if I can get anywhere with it. This is very uncommon, right?

 

Very COMMON. Just wait until you have to pull an original 60 year old intake manifold.....

 

You may be able to drop a pry bar in from the top and wedge it loose. Otherwise like others said- BFH

 

Penetrating oil of some sort? My go-to is PB Blaster (shake the can!) Or WD-40 Specialist Penetrating oil (silver, red and blue can, not the standard WD-40 blue and yellow oil)

 

Hit the round case, not the ears or nose because that's where the money is for a core / rebuild. The case can handle harder hits

 

All I can see is the outer case. Not sure what part would be considered ears and nose.

 

My 65 and 69 starter motors have three bolts. Brian

 

FE's have 3. SBF have 2. "Early" Sixes have 3.

 

Correction; my 65 has two bolts. Thank you. Brian

 

Finally got it to release after banging with a dead blow and yanking on it I created enough of a slit to wedge in a screwdriver and then work it out. Now to try and figure out how to get it past the steering components and headers.

 

It’s out!

 

There are a few threads on here about using the smaller and lighter Explorer 5.0L starter. Might be helpful next time.