Technical Shimming a starter

Is there a good technique for shimming a starter on a 350sbc or is it trial and error?

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Matt....last time I did it, it was a pain in the ass. I pulled the solenoid off the starter, and bolted the starter up. That way you can manually engage the starter drive into the flywheel in a controlled manner. A paperclip is about the right amount of gap there is supposed to be between the peak of the drive gear and the valley of the ring gear on the flexplate. Once youre done adding shims or whatever to get the right gap between the teeth, you pull the starter and reinstall the solenoid. Like I said...pain in the ass....but it worked.

 

From this the gap is 1/8 inch. I'd agree that it is a lot easier with the solenoid removed from the starter.
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/shimming-a-sbc-starter-the-correct-way.611065/
Here they are saying the thickness of a paper clip. I'd think the large one rather than small one. http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/wiki/images/3/33/Delco_remy_starter_shim_bulletin_tbstr01-2.pdf
Over on the K 5 blazer group it shows as 1/8.

 

If you are installing a replacement starter use the snout from the old starter if it worked correctly. Easy-peasy.

 

What ^^^ he said

 

you could use the method that's in the instructions that came with the starter, eh? (assuming it's a stock replacement starter). The gap between the outer end of the ring gear teeth, and the shaft, should be 1/8". Use an allen wrench to check it, if it fits but you can't twist the wrench, then it's perfect. If the gap is too small, add a full shim, and try again. If it's too wide, add half a shim at the outer bolt (between the starter and block, of course) and try again.

 

From an old Street Rodder magazine, decent starting point:

 

egads, can you provide month and year of SR article? Thanks.

Phil

 

April, 2003. Pretty old.

 

I have always taken great pains to get a starter with any engine I come across, saves many woes. If I have it rebuilt, I want my OG starter back. I only ran into one car I bought for parts that had some horrific stack of shims under the starter. I have never had to shim a starter if I used the OG nose cone.

 

Got the article. Thanks.

Phil

 

As usual, Jim hit the nail on the head. That’s exactly how I learned to do it, and never had a problem.


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