89chevycamaroRS

i put this new motor in my car and i bolted up the starter that came with it, hit the key and it just grinded real bad and the starter gear stuck out into the flywheel. i tried shimming it but still did the same thing. thought maybe the guy lied to me about the starter he used with the motor so i got a new starter but it does not fit due to my headers hitting it.

on the new starter i got the drive gear has 9 teeth. on my old starter that came with the motor it has 11 teath. does this matter? i have a 168 tooth flywheel. both starters have the staggard bolt patteren and both fit to the flywheel fine so im sure they are both for a 168 flywheel

any help?

camaronewbie

Your car came from factory with a 153 tooth flywheel. If you used factory starter and 168 tooth flywheel, then that won't work. Or if you used the 153 tooth flywheel that was factory on your car, but the starter is 168 tooth starter, that won't work.

In addition, the flywheel HAS to match the motor, not the starter or the tranny. The flywheels are balanced differently for a 1 piece rear main seal engine than for a 2 piece rear main seal engine.

So, you have to match a flywheel to your MOTOR, and then get a starter to bolt up for that flywheel. The 700R4 bellhousing will accept either flywheel.

89chevycamaroRS

motor came with the flywheel on it so id say it was for it but who knows. the guy already lied to me about the motor being stroked (it was not)

camaronewbie

I just read another post, and afterwards I may be wrong about the flywheel needing to match the motor and the balancing issue - I'm confused now so maybe that's not your issue.

Did you shim it according to the instructions? Just because they only include 2 pieces of shim material doesn't mean you don't need more - it just depends on the starter and the block. The instructions should have stated how close the teeth need to be (or really how far apart).

tjtaylor

im having the same problem with my sbc 400! but i know i have a 168 tooth flywheel and my starter just grinds and wont spin the motor over at all. almost acting like the starter is to weak?? but its a starter for built motors so im confused

89chevycamaroRS

tonight i shimed it according to directions. you are suppose to have .020 clearance from starter tooth to inside flywheel tooth. i had too much gap so i finally ended up with 2 shims on the out side bolt. (the one away from the motor) and it actually worked perfect and i was happy.
After not being about to keep the motor running and keep having to crank it the starter must have came loose enought it just grinded and spun. Now im not so happy about it now haha.

i am not using starter bolts becasue i couldnt find any so i ordered some from summit just a sec ago. it will be here in 2 days and ill try it agian. im sure the starter bolts will help my proplem.

tjtaylor- im not an expert on this because i have an issue also i cant seem to figure out but sounds like you need to shim the outside bolt also. see if you can pull your starter gear out into your flywheel and take a paper clip (a smaller normal one) or .020 and see how it fits beween the flywheel and the tip of your starter. that paper clip should be the gap you need. worked for me tonight till the starter loosen up on me. think that is my fault for not using starter bolts.

89chevycamaroRS

i got my starter bolts from summit. got everthing bolted in and checked clearances. i needed to shim my starter closer so i put shims on the outside bolt. it seems like i need more but i already had 3 shims on it.

i tried it and the car cranks fine but the starter gear will not pull out of the flywheel. i dont know if im shimming wrong or my starter is just not pulling back strong/fast enough

Please help! suggestions. the flywheel looks good when i inspected it.

89chevycamaroRS

i think i found the problem. the starter bolt holes are cracked. so block is junk. this sucks, now i have to take everything apart i just put together. and pay for a new block!

tjtaylor

upload pics of cracks!!

89chevycamaroRS

ill get some tomorrow night

89chevycamaroRS

i tried taking pics today and they would not turn out in my camera. sorry. i found a block for 150 already bord so i just dropped off that block and my cracked on at the engine shop tonight so they can swap all the parts over for me.

torque_is_good

please please please tell me that after your first encounter with a junker engine that you aren't going to take any chances with the $150 junker block

Are you having it cleaned and magnafluxed and inspected and paying for that before part #1 simply gets slapped into the new block?

I do hope that you will share your experiences with the board. I see way too many posts by people who go off half cocked buying any 350 they can find and hoping to slap it into their car and then hope for years of trouble free driving

There is a reason that those junkers are priced so low. It costs real money to have an engine properly machined and prepped.

Already you bought someone else' problem and they said the engine was a stroker and you find out that it wasn't and the block was no good. Very few posters come forward with these stories but it is a valuable service to all if more would.

89chevycamaroRS

the engine shop i use is a good one. he does magnaflex and clean the block. im not exactly sure why the other one was cracked. i definatly did not go cheap on this build. i had 3 grand in just the engine work and head work not including the FI set up i got from edelbrock.