Just wondering what starters will work with my setup, 57 chevy car, stock v8 cast bellhousing, gm goodwrench 350 with 168 tooth flywheel, 4 spd muncie. Can I get away with using a starter from a 97ish chevy half ton with 168 tooth flexplate and mount the starter to the block? Or does it HAVE to be a stock style tri5 starter? Thanks!
The easiest approach is to take the nose casting from a bellhousing mount starter and put that nose on your newer starter. Trying to use the block mounted starter will require some modification to the bell housing.
Great thanks, so I have not compared any starters yet and I do not have a stock one to use pieces from but what do I need to modify on the stock bellhousing? Just open up the big hole a little more to clear the larger nose of the newer one? I might just do that. I am also considering trying a mini starter.
If you usr the mini starter with the exposed starter drive it should fit if you use the ones with the nose cone you my have to modify it.
Here is a picture of the correct starter for your application. 97 starter motor will not fit this front housing. Newer one is a smaller gear reduction starter.
57 Chevy with turboglide used a bolt to the block starter and a 168 tooth flywheel. I believe a three bolt 3689 starter meant for a later stick shift 409 or 396 will bolt to your 57 block if yours has the appropriate holes. Buy matching bolts too.
In those instances, I've just swapped the nose to a good starter motor(that fits the nose). Everything lines up according to factory design.
You can see if the 97 starter will fit, it might...or you might need to do some clearancing on it? But the 3 bolt starter will fit. they were used on manual transmission Chevy trucks thru 1972, so they're not hard to find.
What he said. I have Muncie behind 350 in my Nomad, went to local parts house to get starter, they had one in stock, and I was on my way.
This is a bit off topic, but kinda worth the warning. If you trundle on down to the parts store and purchase the new version of the bell mount starter, beware of some extra work coming your way. The versions that are made and or rebuilt in Mexico that I have seen feature a new snout casting that although it looks like the original stuff out of the fifties and sixties, is really made with all the precision that Mexican parts are noted for world wide! The new casting is roughly 1/4" larger on all sides of the bolt flange and will not roll far enough up against the block to thread the bolts in. That and the bolt holes are drilled in a sort of random pattern approximating the original. By grinding about 3/16" off the block side of the snout and drilling the second bolt hole up two sizes over, oh, and chasing the tapped upper hole so that it actually could receive a bolt I finally got the "new" starter in my customer's '64 Chevy truck...
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