so my starter was grinding again and i figured what the heck ill try to mess with the shims and see if i can get this problem figured out. so i screwed around and tightened everything down and vola! car started with no problem at all. tested it a few times and it worked great

now comes the horrible part. i drive onto base and buy some stuff for my friends... get out into the parking lot and my car doesnt start. the starter is spinning but the teeth arent hitting anything. i check under the car and my flywheel is missing huge hunks of teeth from it. a lot more since i put the new starter in. i manage to get it started by spinning it to where some good teeth are and i drive it to my friends place.

so im stuck repairing my car this weekend. luckily the base im on has a "hobby shop" with car lifts and whatever tools i need a new flywheel is only $25 bucks so im hoping to get the new one in before work Sunday night. anyone ever put a new one on and should i use the old starter or get a new one? the car is a 1980 350 5.7 auto tranny. i mean the flywheel was tore up from my old starter and it wasnt grinding that bad with the new one it just wouldnt catch since the teeth where gone. i should have 2-3 people helping me out so what do you guys think. any advice or how-to's? I appreciate the help everyone

 

Look at the gear on the starter. If it's torn up, replace the starter drive. If it looks good, use it.

 

since its an auto does that mean its the flexplate? i dont want to start trying to buy the wrong parts

 

yes, flexplate-auto,
flywheel-4-spd

 

I always used the term starter wheel.

 

well before you use the old starter what was the problem it wasnt working to begin with? do use something that caused a problem to begin with.