The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Flex plate and starter not meshing correctly

Tried to fire up the 261 Monday. Starter is not meshing to flex plate correctly. Looks like we need to shim the flex plate to get a bit more clearance as starter gear is contacting the flex plate at rest and going too far out when engaging. Anyone know if there are any shims available that will fit? Running a 1962 261 and 200 4R trans. Using Langdon's adapter set up. Thanks in advance.

Which starter are you using? Does it bolt to the block or the bellhousing? Since you've got a non-stock setup, you'll probably need to fabricate your own shims. I'd suggest making them from soft aluminum, as it's much easier to work with than steel. If you're running a solenoid-type starter, take the solenoid off and cycle the drive linkage by hand during the fitting process to avoid damaging the starter or the flex plate.
Jerry

Jerry, Thanks for the reply.

Starter is Chevy '70's to early 80's for V8's with automatic and 12.75" flexplate. Has 2 bolts that go vertical into Langdon's adapter plate (between block and transmission) and I'm told originally had a bracket on stud at forward end mounted to engine for additional support. Yes it's solenoid type.

Found a few shims online, Summit has several. Wondering if the original flywheel bolt pattern for 235/261s were carried over to next series of 6s or V8s.

I don't think the crankshaft bolt pattern stayed the same when the swap was made to the 230/250/292 series, or the V8's. Does the flex plate have a welded-in center piece with the 261 bolt pattern? Maybe the flex plate is installed backwards. The regular shims for block-mounted starters do not change the fore/aft position of the starter- - - -they only affect the depth of starter pinion gear engagement in the flywheel ring gear to prevent the teeth from bottoming out. If the starter gear is touching the flex plate it sounds like the adapter is made wrong or you've got the incorrect starter for the application.

If you need to shim the flex plate further toward the transmission to provide more starter pinion clearance, just use the original 261 flywheel as a template to get the hole spacing you need, make some circular shims from soft aluminum about 1/16" thick, and stack them up as needed between the flex plate and the crankshaft.
Jerry

Most of the time when there is a starter drive to flexplate/flywheel problem it is that the drive is too deep into the starter ring. New or rebuilt starters used to come with a depth gauge which was just a short piece of rod to hold into the bottom of the ring gear groove to check the drive gear tooth depth. I think it was 9/64 but a google search would be in order here. A 9/64 drill stem would work fine. As Jerry stated, remove solenoid so you can engage the drive by hand. I don't know about a GMC but on Chevy's there was a 153 and 168 tooth starter ring so make sure your drive is a match to the ring gear tooth count. On my 37 Buick straight eight with a Bendsten's adapter to the 1963 Chevy and newer bell housing pattern I'm using a 2004R OD automatic and had to use 0.032 in shims (with a vertical mount starter) to get a quiet meshing. Good luck.