hey guys, i have a 1978 Chevy Camaro, it originally had the 305 in it according to the vin and the guy i bought it off of, he told me that he swapped it out for a 350, it is a newer engine but how do i tell if it is a 350, i am changing the starter and it doesnt seem to be catching the flywheel, and it looks like shims are only going to make it worse, this is my daily driver please help, ty =]

 

There's a casting number on the block. Drivers side where the bellhousing bolts up. Look that number up, then you will know

 

I already suggested what to try for the starter in your other thread.
And you can look up casting numbers here: http://www.chevy-camaro.com/chevy-ca...oding-help.asp

 

I had one on a full size '78 Jimmy (Blazer) with a 400 sbc in it years ago that nothing would work to make the starter mesh properly.
I tried all sorts of things and finally gave up and took it to my friend Gerry's auto repair business.
I had let the original starter go as a core unfortunately,before it fried it always worked and meshed with no trouble what so ever.
Gerry tried a couple different starters besides the one I had bought and none would work right shims or not.
To make it work he had to get out a grinder and make things fit!

 

I didn't want to go that far with him yet, until we see what happens with an outboard shim. But on my 69, I did have to grind off a bit of the mounting surface on the starter cone at the inboard mount. Just shimming it wasn't enough to rock it to mesh the bendix gear deeper into the flywheel. Damn Chevy starter!
A few more hints:
1) Make sure you're using the right "knurled" starter bolts, not your garden variety hardware bolts.
2) When tightening the starter, pull the tail end of the starter motor away from the engine. That will also help to put the starter gear closer to the flywheel.
3) Use the tail end starter-to-block bracket that often gets "lost", which will help to keep the starter in place.