Starter issue?

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E Satterfield

E Satterfield

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Hello. I just finished a automatic to manual shift conversion on my b body.( I also own a A body). 440/727 to 833 I used a new McLeod 130t flywheel and an aluminum Lakewood bellhousing. I reused my original starter (large case stock) that had no issues before the conversion.

Now the starter sounds like a Chevy starter that needs a shim. Nasty harsh noise when the Bendix comes off of the flywheel teeth.

The nose of the starter appears to be fully seated in the recess in the bellhousing. I’m new to working on Mopars and as I understand shims are not required but something is definitely wrong. Any ideas?

Thanks as always!
 
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Is it hanging on the ring gear?
Did you indicate this bell in?
 
Honestly I just bolted the bellhousing on. My background is Chevys and just installed them new and used and they always worked out ok. I noticed looking through the bottom with the inspection cover removed it looked very close to the teeth in the disengaged position.
 
Well, you can try shimming the starter forward. There are dust shields available.

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So far's I'm concerned, ALL stamped steel bells are "suspect" for QC and precision. I dearly hope you performed a bell housing alignment.

In the mid 70's two friends of mine bought Lakewood bells for Jeep swaps. One was an amazingly dangerous Chev 350 in what had been a brand new '74-75 CJ-5, and the other was a Stock 70's CJ manufactured with the Buick V6. Both guys bought these bells pre-drilled for a Ford top loader to be adapted to a Jeep transfer case.

The Buick bell, which was checked for concentric, turned out to have the Ford bolt pattern ROTATED enough that the transfer case hung down "noticably"!!!

The Chev 350, also to a Ford top loader, was also out of line and as I recall, the offset dowels were really not enough to fully compensate.

This obviously was way before the internet, and I was less than impressed

Both these guys were excellent bodymen, painters, and mechanics, and one worked for the other, who owned a very well received bodyshop at the time. I certainly cannot fault their expertise with these installations.
 
I didn’t index the bellhousing. I know that is something that’s been discussed here. I figured if the bellhousing with it’s concentric ring assembled with the transmission ok then it probably met 1960s/70s standards...But I do understand that it (Index) should have been done.
I do all the work on these cars by myself on my back without a lift and the engine was still in the car and have no one to even help carry or hold something when needed plus I’m 57 years old. So sometimes a step or two gets skipped. In the process. Piss poor excuse I know Lol

I did order one of the dust cover/shims from Brewers yesterday which will add lateral clearance

My thoughts are the only way to obtain the same results as shimming a GM starter (perpendicular clearance)would be to either remove material from the Bendix gear or a smaller gear as the shim lowers or widens the mesh between the flywheel and starter.

Thanks again for the input.
 
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Starter isn’t bolted down in this pic. But the drive gear is almost touching the flywheel. Definitely needs spaced back some.

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Before adding shims:
- might need a helper
- disconnect [+] batt cable at the battery
- run a jumper from the batt [+] terminal to the sol terminal on the starter. This will push the pinion gear out so you can check for engagement. As long as the the Bendix unit does not contact the back of the ring gear teeth, I see no reason for any shims.
- welcome to Mopars!
 
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