I have a 583 cid motor from HTG racing, using the accessories from my 454mag mpi.
Runs well but is chewing up starters like mad, it will start a few times then just spin, not engaging the flywheel, on the first bad one, the nylon gear was chewed up or melted, not sure, the others were warrantied so we didn't open them up.
I'm doing the swaps myself, and getting into the engine compartment is a ***** since I'm paralyzed chest down!
Looking for a better starter if it's just not strong enough for my application or try to find the source of the problem.
I have read through all the old posts, just seeing if anyone has any advice, thanks for the help and enjoy the rest of the season!
ryan

Nylon geared starters will not work in your application. I have had a couple of friends that have been through the same problems that you are encountering, they had locked out timing on 540's. They went with a starter by CVR I think it was around $200. Well worth the money as apposed to replacing another one.

Tilton Super starter, do it once.

+1 Tilton

Thanks for the help, anyone can help with staggered or straight pattern... pretty sure its staggered, and teeth on my flywheel... don't know if they are all same for bbc...
Sorry if these are stupid questions, I don't know and cant reach Rob at HTG.
Just want to get back boating!
Thanks again!
RYAN

i have a power master in my boat for over 10 yrs..been through many others and the power master seems to hold up better that the others..

What block are you running, should be 168 tooth flywheel. You may have ring gear damage by now. You need something stronger than a stock starter for that many cubic inches.

also what timing setup are you running ? locked advance ?have a start retard if so ? those big engines can kill starters with lots of timing and no start retard....

Make sure you are using the right starter bolts. I was going through starters like crazy too. Found out wrong starter bolts had a bad alignment with the flywheel. I also use the MSD 8984 start retard module on my 10:1 525ci BBC. I've just locked out my distributor to get more timing at idle. Nylon gears will never hold up.