The knurl on the starter bolts gives them a tighter fit in the starter hole than a conventional bolt (no knurled shank) will. A conventional straight shank bolt can allow the starter to rock, which will mess up the gear mesh, and the gears.

 

Appreciate the wisdom on thread amount, I'm generally not feelin' the way it is now with those bolts so I will be replacing them for sure. There's more wasted money on parts I can't use. I don't get it though, wonder why they're like that with this starter? The bolts are not 3/8" diameter like standard starter bolts. The head on these is 3/8" so if I wanted to get technical, the threads are in probably the width of the bolt at least, but that's not saying much. Just don't get why I couldn't find any longer bolts for mini starters? Should I be heading up to the Walmart parking lot and looking for a '99 Tahoe to borrow some bolts from?


I'll keep looking....

 

Why not get bolts for a 99 Tahoe from an Autozone or O'Reillys? Autozone lists two different lengths. A 1 7/8" Part Number: 678-001.1 And a 3 5/8" Part Number: 678-005.1 Less than $6 for the pair.

 

Ohhh the blasphemy!!


Shotgun scoops for life!!


Just had to set it on there so nothing went into the carb while I'm away for a while. Man it's gettin' close though!! I hate having to quit working on it for a couple weeks but I'll try and manage to get a day or two in on the core support in that time.


Vall, the bolts I have now are 3.70" and still too short. I'm going to need 4" or so (stainless) and the only other ARP starter bolts are 4.34" so I'll figure something out when I have some more time. Just don't get why it's like that to begin with, it's not a special starter or anything.

 

Well I'm confused now, as the bolts I listed are what is spec for a '99 Tahoe. Not sure where you got '99 Tahoe as the correct bolt?
Here's your 4" GM starter bolts:
Pioneer PG 622 Starter Bolt GM SBC Chevy 267 305 350 V8 3 8 16 x 4 5 16" 1 Ea | eBay

 

I told him. I use the the same starter for my builds because I can get a lifetime warranty on a "mini" starter. Here are the two side by side. The mini is a stock replacement that came with my T56. Anything with a Vortec or a LT1 will have this starter.

 

See how y'are Damon, telling me to get bolts shorter than the ones I already have. Looks like those Pioneer bolts are the same size as the ARP's so I'll probably just get those, thanks for the link though Vall.

 

LOL um no! I didnt spell it out because I'm an idiot. But the point was measure the starter thickness then stick out 1.5x the diameter of the bolt. This internet thing and my ADD just dont get along. I will be thinking perfectly well what I want to say and then not type it leaving the recipient less intelligent for reading it. Im sure there are more than a few messages that I didnt proof read that make zero sense.

 

What did you pay for the chrome piece if you dont mind me asking? The $65 five start wonder I bought on ebay was a pile. Same as the one pictured almost but had a billet chunk so I could clock it out of the way. It only had 5 or less starts on it really. There was a support bearing inside that came apart in a bad way and when I took it to Autozone to test. It pulled over 250A. It was making my power cable to the battery jump! I put a 0g power cable on and it too jumped! Last time I buy a fancy starter. I'll buy a timing retard before ever going down that road again.

 

Not to worry, I think it was only a suggestion to try those bolts. I knew they wouldn't work from the get-go for the simple fact that they weren't CHROME! I think that starter was in the $100 range and I too hope that it considers working for a while. Worst case, I have 3 regular stock starters I could use until a replacement is found. I'll get these other bolts ordered here soon and hopefully all will be good.