Dan H.

10 ish years ago I had the original starter off my car as a part of some other work i was doing at the time. When i reinstalled the OE starter i got a nasty grind. At the time i replaced with with a new one. This one also had a very occasional grind. I've come to realize that there were probably shims on the starter when i took it out and i've lost them. I've removed the starter and inspection cover. The starter gear is hitting the side of the ring gear and hasn't really done any damage. After watching a video on how to shim it, i don't understand how to see and measure the mesh? With the starter in, there is no way to see or measure the gap/mesh of the gears. Do you just start adding shims and trying the key till it doesn't grind? I don't see how i could see or pry the starter gear over even with the inspection cover removed...

Car is a 71 with a 350

randallsteel

If you remove the flexplate cover, you can use a small thin screwdriver to pull the gear to the fully extended position.
Once extended you can visually asses the mesh clearance. Rule of a thumb, the desired gap should be about the thickness of a straightened out paper clip.
this makes the process doable with just two hands. Extend gear, attempt to slide paper clip between, reset and adjust as necessary.

Dan H.

Thank you Randall,
I will give this a go, i appreciate your advice!

I'm more a C5 track day guy and am less familiar with the older cars. Setting this up to sell so need to get this sorted out...