can this be fixed?
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 861
Likes: 0
From: WNY
can this be fixed?
The best laid plans..... I had a starting issue with the car when hot, so I bought a high torque mini starter.
It occasionally made a grinding noise, but started just fine. Its been on there about a month now with lots of starts and stops.
Well.. it made a brand new noise in the garage today, so I pulled off the starter and took a look at my worst fears confirmed
Is there any way possible to fix this without replacement? I JUST dropped the motor in early march, I really dont want to have a do-over of that. I turned the motor all the way around and could find no other "missing" teeth..
I guess the better question to ask is "Which flywheel should I look into for a 383 stroker with a street/strip McCleoud oem style clutch freshly installed on it? 
It occasionally made a grinding noise, but started just fine. Its been on there about a month now with lots of starts and stops.
Well.. it made a brand new noise in the garage today, so I pulled off the starter and took a look at my worst fears confirmed
Is there any way possible to fix this without replacement? I JUST dropped the motor in early march, I really dont want to have a do-over of that. I turned the motor all the way around and could find no other "missing" teeth..
I guess the better question to ask is "Which flywheel should I look into for a 383 stroker with a street/strip McCleoud oem style clutch freshly installed on it?
Last edited by Kevins77; May 7, 2010 at 07:04 PM. Reason: resized pics
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 861
Likes: 0
From: WNY
Racer
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 368
Likes: 4
From: . New Zealand
It also appears that the depth of engagement of the starter pinion is not deep enough, or maybe it shifted to cause that. Bottom line, don't simply install another flywheel or ring gear without checking the engagement of the teeth. A good gauge is to use a folded business card to set the depth.
Racer
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 497
Likes: 0
From: Streator Illinois
It also appears that the depth of engagement of the starter pinion is not deep enough, or maybe it shifted to cause that. Bottom line, don't simply install another flywheel or ring gear without checking the engagement of the teeth. A good gauge is to use a folded business card to set the depth.
It's really a shame something like this happened. I know you have been doing a lot of work on your car for quite a while and nobody needs unexpected problems. Hopefully the fix will go well.
Terry
Last edited by tnovot; May 8, 2010 at 09:45 PM.
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Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 861
Likes: 0
From: WNY
The starter - PWM-9200 STARTER STAGGERED 168 TOOTH
It works great, I really liked it to be honest. The car usually turned over within 1 - 2 seconds of turning the key.
I should have checked the engagement, but I literally played this one by ear. It sounded great and felt fine. I never had any problems with it other than an occasional clunk/grind every once in a while. It was rare enough that I just shrugged it off. Then the wife was at the gas station with it the other day, as I just found out, and it made a terrible noise when she went to start it, so she just let it roll and dumped the clutch to drive it home Not that knowing that before i tried to start it would have done me any good. Just too bad.. Im so busy I may not have time to pull it apart for a while, may have to bite the bullet and take it to a shop so
It works great, I really liked it to be honest. The car usually turned over within 1 - 2 seconds of turning the key.
I should have checked the engagement, but I literally played this one by ear. It sounded great and felt fine. I never had any problems with it other than an occasional clunk/grind every once in a while. It was rare enough that I just shrugged it off. Then the wife was at the gas station with it the other day, as I just found out, and it made a terrible noise when she went to start it, so she just let it roll and dumped the clutch to drive it home
Not that knowing that before i tried to start it would have done me any good. Just too bad.. Im so busy I may not have time to pull it apart for a while, may have to bite the bullet and take it to a shop so
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 17,676
Likes: 201
From: Who says "Nothing is impossible" ? I've been doing nothing for years.
That's why I never installed my way too expensive mini starter. The tooth engagement was about 1/4 not even half way. I don't understand it. 2 billion small block chevy motors made and they can't make a mini starter that engages the full tooth of the flywheel ? 
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 861
Likes: 0
From: WNY
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,877
Likes: 13
From: Doha
St. Jude Donor '08
And thats why I got a GM mini starter, engagement is excellent and so far so good.
Last edited by HamadUP; May 9, 2010 at 01:30 AM.
Drifting
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 1,986
Likes: 21
From: Columbus MN
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 17,676
Likes: 201
From: Who says "Nothing is impossible" ? I've been doing nothing for years.
Just checked and I believe my problem is the lightweight flywheel I have, I think to make it lighter they have to make it thinner and in doing so it removes a portion of the teeth on the inside. Oh well 
