dereknkathy

here is a decent pic of teeth on a starter drive. look at pic 4. For SBC BBC Chevy 3HP Mini Starter - Dual Inline 153 168 Tooth 305 350 396 454 | eBay this is not what you mean? the teeth actually curve like a turbocharger impeller? then the starter needs a drive or is junk. they are difficult to get parts for. and they are cheap. I used to build these for a living... 3510-N VULKO Starters GM CHEYENNE G BLAZER 90-95 /C10 C30 MALIBU CAPRICE V8 10MT | eBay they are easy to repair and easy to find parts for. I probably have 10 of them in the garage in pieces. I wont use them. too much weight and hassle to install.

MTScott

When I get a good pic of the starter gear I'll post it.... but it doesn't really matter as I'm going with the mini starter option anyway thanks to your knowledge.

My only concern now, is that there is shimming involved to get the right tolerance with the flywheel; although, the instructions say that shimming isn't necessary in most installations. I'm not sure checking the gap in flywheel and starter gear is an option here, so I may have to just roll the dice.

dereknkathy

Put it in with no shims. If it sounds like it is knashing it's teeth, add 1 shim. But it wont.

MTScott

The new starter showed up yesterday. The bolts are just plain ol bolts except that have an allen head. The special chevy shouldered bolts don't fit through the mount on the starter, so I guess I have to just stick with straight normal bolts. I think they could be a tad longer, so I'm going to see what options I have for grade 8 bolts.

Ideally the normal shaft on a 3/8 bolt will protrude just slightly to fit into the recessed portion of the block. With a combination of spacers and such I think I can get that done.

dereknkathy

the inboard bolt is not a blind hole. goes right thru. an extra inch of threads and it'll still work. the outboard bolt will bottom out. so. put outboard bolt thru starter. measure distance sticking out. screw bolt into engine till it bottoms out. hit bolt with white out or a squirt of spray paint. pull bolt out. measure how much bolt went in hole. I would bet the bolts they supplied are the right length...

MTScott

The lengths that they provided will work... but from what I've measured they'll put about 1/4-3/8" less thread into the block that the OEM bolts did. It seems like grade 8 bolts would be a good idea too.

dereknkathy

does the allen head sink into a hole in starter, or sit flush on the housing like a normal bolt? what is the length of the bolts? cuz standard ones are in half inch increments. you could end up cutting a bolt a couple threads shorter or shimming with washers. if you cut a bolt, screw a nut on first. then removing the nut cleans up the cut thread end.

MTScott

I don't have the starter in front of me to measure, but I think the housing of this starter is also about a 1/4" deeper. The allen head sits flush on the bottom of the starter housing. IF the stock bolts had fit, the shoulder area would not have extended beyond the starter housing. My expectations of those special bolts is that the narrower shoulder would extend into the block slightly.

I work 40 minutes from home, so, I kinda have to buy some bolts, and see what'll work, then return what doesn't. I had planned on just shimming with washers if I needed to. Is there a downside to shimming?

SB

iTrader: (1)

What starter did you get ? Link ?

Bondo

Ayuh,.... What am I missin',..??

Why wouldn't you just use the bolts that came with the new starter,....

They're obviously the Right bolts if they came with the starter,.....