Sarter Shimming Questions...

[TBigLug]

350 crate (once upon a time) motor, pretty solidly built. One problem I'm having is the starter. It has a shim in it right now but I don't know how to tell if it needs a thicker or thinner one? Is there a measuring point you can use to tell or is it a trial and error thing? The bendix is hitting on the flywheel sometimes and spins without contacting it. When it does work it slips off pretty easily and goes back to spinnning without engaging. Any ideas?

[Mudduck]

grab a bic  pen and take it apart u see that white straw that filled with ink inside  use that straw and stick it in between the fly wheel and the starter shaft  that how thick it suppose to be  if it too tight  then take some shim out  and it it too loose  like too much space between  then add a shim

( i think) could be other way around  add shim if it too tight and lose a shim if it too lose  or go auto part store and ask for that starter shim metal rod usually when i buy a new set of starter  there a shim and steel rod same size as pen straw comes in it  so...

[TBigLug]

Gotcha, just to clarify, is it btween the outsaide point of the flywheel teeth and the outside point of the bendix teeth or am I understanding wrong?

[Eroq]

do you have a starter brace on it? i've had SO many starter problems, gone through a dozen starters and about 3 flexplates before i got the starter brace...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NOS-67-68-69-70-71-72-73-GM-CAMARO-NOVA-STARTER-BRACE_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ72Q3a1205Q7c39Q3a1Q7c66Q3a2Q7c65Q3a12Q7c240Q3a1318QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem380070385919QQitemZ380070385919

as far as shims use either 1/8" allen key or a bic pen ink tube (like mudduck said)

[Eroq]

[TBigLug]

Never heard of a starter brace. I'll have to pick one up. Thanks for the pic. That really clears things up for me.

[Hammerlane]

You can make one out of a piece of 1/4" x 1" flat stock,

it attatches from the end of the starter to the engine block

prevents the starter from torqing sideways.

[Bo Duke]

Also another thing to help u, on the nose cone of 10mt starters (standard 350gm starter) there's a hole were u can get a small screw driver threw to pry the bendix out so u can see how much of a gap u have without having the starter cranking the engine, just remember to unhook the battery

[TBigLug]

This starter looks like the one in Eroq's picture. No nose cone smaller I think than a standard starter (guesstimation without another 350 starter handy to compare it to). Low and behold I found three shims in the glovebox. I'm going to try and put one or two of the thinner ones in to see if it helps. It won't hurt it to have three shims in it instead of one thicker one will it?

[Bo Duke]

ohh so u have a high torque racing starter.....

[TBigLug]

Apparently, I think it said Powermaster or Mastertorque or something. I took out the 1/64 shim and replaced it with a 1/32. Worked great for about 4 starts then started missing again. Of course it was when I went to show Heather and brag about my big accomplishment! Tomorrow I'll try another shim or two to see if it works. I tried measuring but couldn't get my fat head in a position to see what I was doing. It was easy enough to drop the starter given I already had the battery disconnected due to my alternator problem (lots of time on the carger). I'll let you guys know how it worked tomorrow.

[camok10]

it is a power master gear reduction i think the torgue master just fyi

[TBigLug]

Thanks Matt, lovin' the truck! Didn't get too mess with it today, too busy breaking the radiator! I'll update y'all tomorrow.

[TBigLug]

Put in another shim last night. Worked for the first time then back to skipping 2/3 of the time. Back to the drawing board. One more shim this afternoon.

[camok10]

any more luck?

[73chevytruck]

i had a motor doing this one time, and i actally had to grind the starter down a little bit for it to work right

[TBigLug]

No more luck yet. i put in every shim you had in the glove box and it's still skipping . Down to half the time though. I think I'm going to look around and see if I can buy just the bendix for the starter to replace it and see if that helps.

73- How did you grind it down? Just square all the way around, basically cutting the gear back?

[73chevytruck]

i just took file and took a little off the top on both spots evenly, and yes it put the gear a lil closer to the flywheel, i didnt use any shims

[Hammerlane]

Shimming moves the bendix away from the flywheel to prevent binding while cranking.
if your skipping off then either your starter is shifting sideways (hence the brace)
or your too far away (remove shims)

[TBigLug]

The starters not skipping off, it's actually running into the flywheel and not getting out into position where it should. I figured that would mean it was too close. Not sure how many shims are supposed to be in a starter but right now there's probably 1/8" worth of shims.