Starter shim?

[thinger2]

Bullshit. many of these trucks never had a support bracket
The shim is because the chevy starter mounts to the block but the important relationship is between the starter and the ring gear.
This is why Ford starters that bolt into the trans are ******* cake.
The casting variations between the block mounting pad and the starter nose cone and that relation to too the ring gear can stack to the point that the bendix doesnt engage at all.
Or it does and you get that godawull screeching noise.
Which is the bendix runout gear sticking on the ring gear and bending the starter shaft while it chews teeth.
There are few tricks to avoid this.
But, you cant just bolt a starter into a Chevy.
Its easy, but it has to be done correctly.

 

[Steven Petersen]

Bullshit. many of these trucks never had a support bracket
The shim is because the chevy starter mounts to the block but the important relationship is between the starter and the ring gear.
This is why Ford starters that bolt into the trans are ******* cake.
The casting variations between the block mounting pad and the starter nose cone and that relation to too the ring gear can stack to the point that the bendix doesnt engage at all.
Or it does and you get that godawull screeching noise.
Which is the bendix runout gear sticking on the ring gear and bending the starter shaft while it chews teeth.
There are few tricks to avoid this.
But, you cant just bolt a starter into a Chevy.
Its easy, but it has to be done correctly.

From the information I can find, it never had a brace to begin with. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with adding one. What could it possibly hurt? Just saying I don’t think GM used one.

 

[man-a-fre]

Bullshit? My 93 ecsb and both 94 rcsb k1500 have the bracket as does my 72 blazer and 71 chevelle. Don't put it on just forget about it. Once that outer bolt hole cracks it's a job to fix.

 

[PlayingWithTBI]

Just saying I don’t think GM used one.

I wonder where my brace came from then

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

IIRC these older GM vehicles had them, like in the 50s and 60s. Then in the 70s it got more sporadic, especially toward the later years. By the 80s and the time our trucks were built, it probably depends on if the line worker or robot had one available when the starter was put on the engine. This is what I've observed over the years in the auto parts industry anyway.
If you can get a bracket, and the bolt or stud is in the block in the right place to use it, it will help the starter life to have it installed. And I can speak from experience that if the starter teeth damage the flywheel/flexplate, that's a whole other can of worms to rectify....
Also, the distributor cap and rotor can become carbon tracked inside. This will make it try to fire different cylinders at the same time, and that's another way to mess up the starter and flywheel. This is most likely what happened to my current Burb, before we got it.
This wasn't a 400 series, but our 79 350 Burb( that was bought off a cheap used car lot in Houston in 89) had a GM Target Master replacement engine in it. Some prior owner/ fixer had broken the outer starter bolt mount off the side of the block. Somebody had welded a stud into that spot, and made an extra ear for the starter end housing, so it was mounted with 3 bolts. Every time we had to replace the starter on that truck, we had to swap the end housing onto the replacement unit. Once I spent a whole day working on it, trying to get the right combination of shims.

 

[Steven Petersen]

Bullshit? My 93 ecsb and both 94 rcsb k1500 have the bracket as does my 72 blazer and 71 chevelle. Don't put it on just forget about it. Once that outer bolt hole cracks it's a job to fix.

It’s almost like you want my block to crack

 

[Steven Petersen]

I wonder where my brace came from then

Previous owner, shop, etc? Maybe there was a GM service bulletin where they added them? All I’m saying is it’s not in the parts catalog for 88-89.

 

[man-a-fre]

No Steve it's like if it's not listed in your book it's not supposed to have it. I believe it was on and was removed when the napa starter was put on. Very common for people to be lazy and throw it away,ya know the not necessary mentality . I posted a gm part # that covers many years may help other people from having grief .

 

[evilunclegrimace]

I wonder where my brace came from then

I wonder where my brace came from then

Why from the starter brace fairy of course!

 

[PlayingWithTBI]

I posted a gm part # that covers many years may help other people from having grief .

That one appears to be for square body and earlier though. I wonder if it'll bolt up to the TBI block?

Previous owner, shop, etc? Maybe there was a GM service bulletin where they added them? All I’m saying is it’s not in the parts catalog for 88-89.

Ya know,the more I think about it, the more I'm thinking what I saw is the heat shield bolted to the end of the starter? Maybe the heat shield won't allow the brace to be mounted there and GM decided the heat shield was more important? This starter has been on my truck since before I bought it in 2002, I'm not gonna touch it now and jinx my luck - if I haven't already done that.