98_k1500
strange noises are normal
If its only cracked there on the edge, i'd crank her down and call it good. If the threads themselves are cracked tho, it may break it on off to tighten it up.
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You must be registered for see images attachthis is what you need to strengthen it up its a standard brace came on the older small blocks you can get them thru summit racing
Since it sounds lke he's dealing with the bolt length issue I'll bet he has the mini starter. No brace with those. You could make one, sure...
Don't use any kind of washers on the bolts. Use only the correct length bolts.
Richard
It's a vortec more than likely the small starter
You're not married to that starter. You can use the larger one. I'm running one right now for this very same issue. Your cracks are exactly like mine and no matter how times you reset the starter and "crank it down" it won't stay. Mine would only crank once, shut it off and then just grind. I tried a brand new mini starter that came with new bolts and it did exactly the same thing. I ordered the brace that bulldog showed you from Summit Racing and used a bigger starter and it's working. My engine is 11:1 compression 383. Your engine may crank more than once with stock compression but I wouldn't chance it. You'll be working around hot exhaust in a parking lot somewhere to reset your starter. And that's only if the ear didn't break off completely.