Oldschool GM Starter & Shimming Problems

[Donks 10+ year member]

Ok...i'll start off with the fact im on my 3rd starter. I have a 67 chevelle 350. I have been having trouble shimming it correctly. I just bought a new starter from O'Reily's with a limited lifetime warranty. I've had this newer starter for about a week. Everytime i crank it, it makes the most horrible grinding and crackling noise ever. Well long story short. After Hourless Minutes Of Research Today I finally found out that the proper way to shim the starter for my Vehicle Is to ONLY Shim the Outer Bolt with Half Shims. So I Hop right under there and start off with 1 shim on that sexy outer bolt. didnt start up sexy or right till i had about 7 shims on it and whadaya know.. VROOM!! Just to make sure it was fixed I started it about 8 or so times..so no probs...So I Leave then after i get to my next destination.....Guess what i hear when i go 2 crank it again.....YEPP u guessed it ......HORRIBLE GRINDING NOISES. So Im like WTF. Might I Mind you Im in front Of My Girlfrineds House...so now i look like a total Bum that cant afford a mechanic work..(lol...which is partly true)....anywho...I add 3 more shims to that outer bolt. It was my last shim. So i get up hoping it worked. so I Give it a crank and it still sounded horribly grindly...but it DID start...so i left and went home...

As soon as i get home and home i called the Local Auto Store and ask a few ?'s...he said it should bolt on and workd good with no shims im like WTF i've tried everything from 1 WHOLE shim to 6 whole shims...none of them worked good until i started doin the HALF SHIMS to the outer bolt..anywho the guy was saying something about the teeth on the starter may be worn out. So i take a look at my flywheel and it looked good little wear nothing serious....then i pulled the starter and looked at the teeth. Im no expert but from all the test cranking and grinding the past few days on that **** starter the Starter Teeth look Wore and smoothed down at an Angle. So I think that the teeth on it are done for. Also The Guy at the store was telling me something about different starters with different starter bolt patterns couldnt make a Huge difference. I told him the starter Bolts are Diagonal....But Later as I Pulled the starter I also seen that there is another Hole Which is a straight across instead of diagonal.

Could This make a difference if i Got a Starter with straight across bolt pattern or diagonal bolt pattern?

Are my starter teeth worn out?

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[Ferendon 10+ year member]

Yes, they're gone.

 

[Donks 10+ year member]

Ok....thanks...Would it make any difference if I got A starter with the straight Across Bolt Patten Instead of the above Diagonal Bolt pattern?

 

[Donks 10+ year member]

I got a New starter today....Literally After about 15 half shims to that dam outer bolt...she fired up pretty sexy....but my battery died from all the test crankin b4 i could do any further testing....its charging now so i'll let you guys know 2morrow

 

[badvlvo 10+ year member]

Looks like you have a flexplate problem if you have to use that many shims.

 

[DammitJames 10+ year member]

theres something more to the problem than the shims man something wrong with the teeth on the flywheel/flexplate or they are giving you the wrong starter

 

[mlstrass 5,000+ posts]

x3 once you fry the teeth like that on the starter the flexplate teeth will be fuxored also, so you need to replace BOTH at the same time and then shim them properly. There are 2 diff tooth counts for older chevy's, so make sure you get the proper flexplate and starter to match with it...

 

[Donks 10+ year member]

yes it was the flywheel...thanks you guys got it replaced the other day.

 

[Donks 10+ year member]

once i replaced the flywheel it worked good fo a few days...now its back to this same grinding noise. Found out the problem lies within the starter bolts. I was told to get these specific new starter bolts with knurls and so i got them from jegs. The outer bolt screws in ok. but the inner bolt hole is stripped some....after its gets to about 90% torque it just pops out of place. i've tried so many different washer/shim combinations and none work. so now im stuck because the hole is stripped. and i do not know what to do. they said try and tap and die kit, thread restorer, or Heli coil, but i was told all that does it make the Hole the next size bigger. and the starter only takes one kind of bolt. what the freak can I do. Im Stuck

 

[audioatg 10+ year member]

once i replaced the flywheel it worked good fo a few days...now its back to this same grinding noise. Found out the problem lies within the starter bolts. I was told to get these specific new starter bolts with knurls and so i got them from jegs. The outer bolt screws in ok. but the inner bolt hole is stripped some....after its gets to about 90% torque it just pops out of place. i've tried so many different washer/shim combinations and none work. so now im stuck because the hole is stripped. and i do not know what to do. they said try and tap and die kit, thread restorer, or Heli coil, but i was told all that does it make the Hole the next size bigger. and the starter only takes one kind of bolt. what the freak can I do. Im Stuck

If you say the bolt does start and go 90% in, Id hit up sears for a thread chaser kit. Not a tap and die kit. They are for when you want to make a hole and new threads. Thread chaser or restore is what you want. Kit I got from sears was not alot and is the same kit snapon and matco and mac sell.

 

[Effidasus 10+ year member]

Thanks guys. What happens is this - I push the starter button and sometimes the starter motor will crank the motor sometimes nothing happens.

We have had much rain this past week and I havent ridden much, but the few times I have, the starter button has worked each time.

It is now my belief that Spinner is correct, - that it has something to do with my kickstand switch. Does anyone know how difficult it is to fix or replace the switch? Thanks in advance for your help.