I have have gone through way to many starters
why???? I do drive the car a lot in the summer. Starters last me maybe a year or 2 12K miles

last one was a Powermaster. The housing actually cracked.

Is it worth spending the money for a GM part or with a car this old am I just getting a reman?

1968 c3 427

 

Were the bolts loose?
Do you use a torque wrench?
Did the engine originally use a brace and you no longer have one?

Starter Brace

 

What is your initial timing set at? I ran a locked distributor for a while and would get some bad kickbacks on start, eventually broke a snout like that.

I ended up setting up my EFI to run about 6 BTDC while cranking. Also swapped to a Tilton starter. $$$ but never had an issue since.

 

I run a sniper system on this car
I’ll look at the start timing. That could be an issue.

 

all bolts were properly torqued
I have never seen a starter brace.

I may fabricate one and add it

 

You can buy one for $14 plus shipping. I gave you the link above.
Here it is again.
https://www.zip-corvette.com/66-74-4...unt-brace.html

 

Had similar issues, 68 427 l89. Switched to a mini starter and haven't had any issues. What was wrong I don't know, is a mini starter the answer I don't know but it resolved my issues. Clink the Amazon link below, that's the one I bought

 

Good info and cheap insurance to avoid a headache, thank you !

 

Seems like it could be an alignment issue between the flywheel (or torque plate) and the starter gear. I assume if the gear is hitting the edge of the flywheel and being forced outward to engage, it's stressing the shaft's bearing position in the nose. What do the flywheel's teeth and ring look like?

 

We need to figure out which starter you have. GM made two different kinds, one for small blocks and the other for big blocks. A big block capable GM starter will have a copper spacer sleeve between the solenoid motor terminal and the motor contact that comes out of the motor housing through a river grommet. Small block starters bolt the motor contact directly to the solenoid motor terminal. This is because the motor housing on BB starters is longer.

#2, is your starter gear to flywheel clearance correct? There should be about .025" between the starter drive gear and the flywheel ring gear, measured between the tip of a gear tooth on one and the valley between two teeth on the other. You will need to shim the starter if there isn't enough clearance. Not enough clearance will trash every starter you put in sooner or later. The starter will sound a whole lot better, too. Yes, for consider a front brace. You will need to be sure your upper starter case bolt, the long skinny one that goes Ling ways through the starter, is a stud, not a hex head bolt like the lower bolt. Most repop starters only have a bolt in the upper hole. You'll need to find a stud if you don't have one. You may still be able to find one at a salvage yard, or ne of the vendors may have new ones. The brackets are specific to BBs with 14 inch flywheels, which is for the starter I see in your pics.

The big vendors all sell the bracket/brace.

 

Starter Brace



Extended connection with the longer starter


M

 

The "mini" starters available that do NOT have that snout also have problems with intermittent teeth engagement, resulting in chipping flywheel teeth. I went through one mini starter (Without Snout) that just failed from use....and not much use. AND the second one works, and still works, but has caused chipped teeth and grinding.....even after I correctly installed it with proper engagement checks required. What I found on searches is that Hitachi style mini starters.....that DO have the front snout support, are really the very best option. They are smaller than the factory big heavy starter, but still have the proper support of the engagement gear with the snout. Typical non-snout starters rely on that engagement gear floating out into the flywheel in free space......and the problems that I read here with that are what I found to be true with my Powermaster starter. SO.....on my 408, I bought a snout supported mini starter, and hope that it works better. And...with the mini starter I bought, with snout, no support bracket is available or required......its not heavy enough.

 

Thanks, Mooser! Try to get a correct rebuilt starter at the local parts store and they think you're crazy. You can ipen a dozen of em and they're the short case starter.

 

I ran a mini starter on my last 427 with no issues. Easy Button.

 

Another vote for a high torque mini starter.
After my original starter finally died,
I blew through 3 or 4 reman starters in a few years. Bought a mini and have had no issues for 7 years now.

 

Mini starters come with snouts....and without.....the snout is a better design to maintain the alignment and engagement of the the gear.

 

Sounds and looks to me like the starter needs to be shimmed.

 

Try the CVR brand.....I have been using them for over 15 years and never one issue.......pt# 5323
This starter can and will turn over a 632ci Big Chief with 15 to 1 compression and 240 psi cranking pressure......
CVR 5323 CVR Protorque Starters | Summit Racing
Don't use starters with a captured nose cone......they are designed for the cone to take all of the force as you have witnessed.....and stay away from any kind of stock re-man or re-pop.....absolutely no gain there.....three times as heavy and uses 50% more amp draw to do the same thing......
A starter brace does nothing to prevent exploding nose cones......
Just make sure you check your teeth engagement gap.....
I doubt the Sniper will try to start at more than the initial advance that is already dialed in......never had an issue there either after 7 Sniper installs.....

Jebby

 

The starter brace can only be used if you are using a starter that is the same size as the factory starter. a lot of mini starters would be too short for that brace.

Pat

 

I tried that CVR starter.....and it occastionally did not engage properly and nicked up teeth on my flywheel. I checked the teeth engagement per the instructions. My first starter was similar design made by Powermaster....and it failed way too soon......just quit working.

A long time poster, and big engine guy, AJRothman posted on several threads, and he is the one that proclaimed that the mini starters WITHOUT snouts lack the proper support....and recommended the one I now have, which is a MINI starter, with a mini snout.....seems to me his idea makes sense....you still have the powerful and lightweight starter .....but a very stable setup....the snout essentially provides a front support for the shaft the engagement gear rides on.....which keeps it going back and forth straight.....as opposed to these other mini starters that just project out of the housing, without any support.

However.....cannot deny your experience.....but I had mine, and my flywheel got chipped up because of it. Again....I checked the engagement per the instructions and it was correct.

Here is one post the AJRothman posted: It makes sense to me,...

I had the same problem with a Summit (hitachi type) starter. I tried freakin everything. It would be fine for 500-600 miles, then the starter gear would come out and hit the flywheel right on the side.. The flat teeth non beveled or "twisted" is the problem, that and without the nose cone to support the starter gear when it's extended, I think there is deflection in the gear when it deploys and misses the alignment. Basically, the starter gear is wobbly when it's pushed out...too much play and misses the teeth.

I eventually bought a mini starter from O Reilys, their Ultima brand, lifetime warranty for a 97' TBI 350 with staggered bolt pattern. This starter is way smaller then the summit mini, has a full nose cone and the starter gear has the beveled/twisted teeth.. No shims at all and its quiet as can be... Perfect. Been on there for about 5k miles now. Make sure to use the GM metric starter bolts for it.