Need help with HI-Torque mini starter

[FlatBroke]

I bought one about two weeks ago and cant seem to get it shimmed out right. It is either too tight to the flywheel and doesn't want to disenguage, or it is shimmed out too far and all it does is grind on the flywheel.....

I'm still trying to figure it out but I'm always open to suggestions.

Thanks.

 

[cycledog]

Are you talking about an aftermarket or a GM v-6 starter? I don't know about the aftermarket starters but it seems to me when I got my gm v-6 starter to put on my small block I had to know the number of teeth on the fly wheel as there are two choices, if I remember correctly.

 

[FlatBroke]

You are right Cycledog,
There are 2 choices.
Im going to do some research in just a minute..

The starter I bought is an after market unit from the local performance shop for a staggered bolt pattern 350 CI. 1st. gen Chevy.

This is going to aggrivate me till I get it figured out.

 

[CR55]

I believe staggered bolts are for 168 teeth flywheel and straight pattern is for 153 teeth. (I hope)![S I had nothing but trouble with my SBC starters. Got to know the parts man on a first name basis, I saw him so much. Used to break starter noses, usually far away from home. I did the shimming and the clearance things, but they only worked for a while and then ----broken starter again!. Finally took it to a shop after it tore the teeth off the flywheel for the 2nd time. He drilled a 3rd hole in the starter and block between the 2 staggered bolts, tapped it, and it's been good for at least the last 4 years. I'm a happy camper now! No more noise from the grinding(That was always fun, only happened when someone was loooking at your car). If it's a mini starter like mine, I don't think anyone has a bracket to fit. That was always the problem, the starter would lift slightly and grind on the teeth. Tried the bracket when I had big Delco Remy's but they did the same thing.....CR

 

[FlatBroke]

Thanks CR55.

My block and My starter are both tapped with 3 holes. I had bolted it up using the cross pattern and finally had the bright idea to move the one bolt to the straight pattern,,,,,no grinding now.


Now I gotta adjust my valves, I got them a little too tight and the motor won't hardley even turn over...Where do I start ? No 1 or what.

 

[FlatBroke]

Up date.....

Got the starter all figured out ... HOOORAY


Went lookin to find out what was going on with my valve adjustment and why I wasn't hittin on all 8, ..suprise, suprise, suprise, #8 was comlpetely puked out. OK, soo now I gotta pull the intake and possibly replace one lifter, (I gotta save money some how right)

WRONG ANSWER

10 out of 16 lifters were concave on the bottom.....
Thats the story of my life.....If it ain't 1 thing, it is 16 others.

 

[CR55]

Nows the time to put that special cam in that you always wanted![cl....CR

 

[donsrods]

Yep, new cam time. As for those mini starters, I just literally tossed a $ 300 Powermaster in the dumpster and replaced it with a good old fashioned Chevy starter. In the two years I had it on the 350 in my T it never worked right. We even built our own shims to make it sort of work. In the end we found out it was just engaging the edge of the flywheel and it finally chipped a couple of teeth so it wouldn't engage.

I put the Chevy starter on it and the pinion engages the flywheel teeth all the way, like it should. Sometimes this high tech stuff isn't all it's cracked up to be.


Don

 

[CR55]

Glad you got everything worked out!.[cl....CR

 

[FlatBroke]

Guess I'm going to be forced to pull the cam and have it miked by the machine shop now...All I wanted to do was get the motor to hit on all 8 cylenders @ the same time...

Wonder how much a thumper cam and lifter kit cost?
Maybe an extreme energy cam and lifter kit? [S

O-boy,
Reason4 is gonna kill me if I spend any more money on the truck....

 

[CR55]

You can't just leave it sit there, broken! [S..You're gonna have to spend the money to get it repaired, there's no other option!..And yes, the Thumper cam should do the trick...CR

 

[FlatBroke]

Not to worry, I'm going to pull the cam tomorrow for inspection and go from there. Keep in mind, I didn't build this motor so I have no idea what the specs are supposed to be. (lift, duration, lobe seperation angle, nothing...) I hope when I get it out it will have a number on it so I can loook up the specs and get it checked out from there...


I will keep you updated ...

 

[frankr]

Hi torque mini starter on early hemi, good swap??

I'm thinking of swaping the large original starter on my early hemi engine for one of the high torque mini units.
Heard they bolt right up.
Has anyone done this before? Is it a good swap?
FrankR

 

[CR55]

Pros and cons on that subject. I did it a few years ago(read above post), should have done it sooner. No matter which starter I used the nose cones would break after a few starts. I bought a Powermaster(I think the name is correct) at Summit racing, had a modifacation done to it and it's been great!
I have a 350 .30 over with 10:1 forged pistons and I shaved the heads a little, so I know compression has a lot to do with starters, but its not a WILD engine by any means, so I never could figure why all of the problems. And yes I shimmed, adjusted, used the correct bolts , and everything else you could think up. I even took it to shops and had them try to install it so it wouldn't grind and eventually break. As you can tell, this is a HOT topic for me![dr.........I could rant and rave for a while longer on this...CR

 

[FlatBroke]

OK.....update

I KNOW...I KNOW...I KNOW...
[P
I should have replaced the cam, but i got things going on and need the truck running soon. With that being said, I gathered 16 lifters ( some from the motor and some from a 305 in the corner) Took them all apart, cleaned them up real good today and put then all back together. all had good spring pressure and were lubed good when I put them back together...Took my time and put everything back together and got the motor fired up......

WAHOOO..... [cl

I don't think I've ever heard this motor run this good.....Maybe after Christmas I will be able to replace the cam. I dunno. [S