ive got a 76 camaro with a 383 stroker and ive put 3 starters in it so far. one a gear reduction starter which burned out and two others were stock 350 sb starters. the two stock starters keep breaking the ends off the cone shaped piece that holds the bendex axle in place keeps cracking. i have a spot on my flywheel with chipped teeth and both times the starters snapped when i went under to take a look they were at the same spot where the chipped teeth were both times. i think that the bendex keeps riding on top of the teeth because of there small size and that pushes on the bendex and then the bendex axle pushes back far enough to break the cone off the end of the starter. Does that happen?? do i need to get a new flywheel? or a new flywheel and a new starter? or a gear reduction starter? any info is appreciated thanks!!

 

The bevel on the bendix should guide it into the teeth on the flywheel. Did you shim the starts out? They may be too close to the flywheel and the tooth engagement is so tight its breaking the cones.

 

i never thought of that but if its too close and needs to be shimed why would it only do it at the flat spot? if i turn the engin by hand so it has good flywheel teeth to start on it goes past the flat spot and can start the engine.

 

Gear mesh may be too loose. Check and shim as necessary: https://camaroforums.com/forum/gener...himming-20175/

 

If you've got chipped teeth on your flywheel, they could certainly cause meshing issues that can bind and break the starter. I would change the flywheel out before installing another starter.

 

on the fly wheel change.

 

i was looking at the clearance on the transmisson for removal and was just wondering if i am going to have to remove or tilt the engine to get the tranny out?

 

would backfiring cause the starter to break and snapp teeth off the flywheel? someone said that could be it too but i guess i really dont know for sure. and how do i know what tooth count to have on the starter bendix?

 

I did not when I changed the flywheel/clutch. Driveshaft, shifter, and then the tranny crossmember. Drop you transmission. I'd use a tranny jack if you can find one. Makes it 100x easier to reinstall. Bellhousing is next. Once its is off, put in a clutch alignment tool in the clutch before you remove it. Once it's removed, you're at the flywheel.

Heh, I did that 3 times before I got it right. Goodluck.

 

Backfires can cause a broken tooth, but are you getting a lot of backfires?
You don't have to worry about tooth count on the starter, just the flywheel.