5.7 L TBI Starter Install

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89Suburban

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Just like C4 said, sounds healthy to me......

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dhamp

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Thanks for the clip 89S! That's exactly what mine sounds like, so I'm leaving it. I've done maybe 1/2 doz starters or so in my day, but all have been on cars and were plug & play. The whole idea of having to shim a starter is new to me. I had to quit on it last night, but I'll button everything down tonight and relegate my time to replacing my broken DS dumbo and the broken antenna mast that the wind broke by slamming my cover up against it repeatedly. :banghead:
 

crazy4offroad

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I would try to eliminate the shims and see if it sounds the same. It would be better to have full gear mesh rather than shorten the pinion gears's (or flywheel's teeth) life.
 

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I would try to eliminate the shims and see if it sounds the same. It would be better to have full gear mesh rather than shorten the pinion gears's (or flywheel's teeth) life.

It does. That's another reason I quit adding them. It sounds the same whether it has 0, 1, 2 or 3 shims. And that's using the 1/2 shims which put more tilt on it than the full ones. I think you were right when you said it's just the starter spinning down. IMO, it's not really a "high-pitched whine" as the instructions mentioned. I just don't want to damage the flywheel over something as simple as adding shims to the starter.
 

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The whole reason for the shims is to adjust the starter by measuring the clearance from the starter pinion shaft to the top of the flywheel tooth. Not by sound or ear.

If it sounds the same without the shims then leave them out, like C4 said. If you really are paranoid about it, do the measurement process for peace of mind.
 

dhamp

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Nah......I'm good. Thanks for the advice guys! :waytogo:
 

89Suburban

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BTW this starter is still kicking ass.
 

dhamp

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Mine too! (knocking on woodd)
 

89Suburban

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Just went through this thread to make a list of the bolt sizes. The new starter used for this write up will be installed into the '90 in the near future. I plan to POR15 the starter housing and heat shield as well. Figured I would post this in case anybody needs a quick reference:

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fredflinstone

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I love how you have pictures for every step. Loves it
 

87ChevyR10

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Ok, so how do I remove the starter with steel tranny cooler lines and long tube headers in the way? Looks like I may need to remove passenger side exhaust just to get starter out. That'll suck since all the exhaust mounting points are rusted solid.

My starter still works OK, but it's running slow from the 100 mph run I did a few months ago.

Thx.
 

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fussfeld

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Would anyone happen to know the part# of the starter heat shield?

BTW, this is probably the best writeup on how to change an SBC starter that i've seen so far.
 

dc3725

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Remove bolts holding those stupid braces that run from the engine to the bell housing cover. They are 5/8" socket. I was able to just take the 2 bolts out of the bell housing end and the braces swung away far enough to clear removal.

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did those bolts come out easy?
 

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