Technical Chev 216 235 starter and flywheel grind

Hi I am having issues with my starter and or flywheel. The motor is a 59 235. It is in a 1939 master 85 sedan. I am using the original bell housing and clutch set up from the 39 with a T5 out of an S10. Just got it all in and running. It is using 12 volt power now. The flywheel and starter are the 139 tooth 216 originals. Starter was freshly rebuilt. I flipped the ring gear to have fresh teeth while things were apart. The side facing the starter doesn’t seem to be chamfered. Foot starter original.

Every few times I engage the starter it doesn’t engage the flywheel fully so I get the great grinding sound. Had to do a few starts while I did break in on the motor. So hit the bad grinding several times. I pulled the starter and several sections if the flywheel are somewhat damaged, starter looks good.

I am thinking the lack of chamfer on the teeth is my likely problem but not sure. I am hoping to not yank it all out again. Engine runs nice.

I know running the 6 volt starter on 12 volt power is ok on the starter but they spin faster. But it seems to me that my problem is tooth engagement.

A few questions…

The 216 bell housing only fits the 216 flywheel size. Is that correct? I may need to replace the ring gear. Does anyone know if a 12v flywheel fits? I would swap to a 12 volt starter to match.

Next question, are all 139 tooth flywheels the same size? I see that chevs of the 40s and Jim Carter truck parts both sell new ring gears.

Final question, optimal is to not tear the motor and trans back apart…any thoughts on how to fix the grinding?

Thanks Jeff

 

You need to have the chamfer for the starter to engage smoothly.

 

The chamfer on the ring gear teeth is there for a reason........looks like a pull down is in order & a new ring gear installed the correct way.

 

I have no experience with your engine or starter housing but I have managed to work on the ring gear of my engine through the starter hole. Maybe you could chamfer one tooth at a time with a small Dremel grinder and turn the flywheel with a lever to work on the next tooth. If this is doable it would be done in a couple hours and would save a lot of work.

 

You need to use the flywheel for the 12 volt starter. 6 and 12 volt use different tooth count flywheels.

 

Try using the 6 volt starter. It will work on 12. If you don't get carried away and crank it for long periods.

 

The 6v setup has larger teeth on the flywheel, that have a chamfer on them. The 12v setup has smaller teeth with no chamfer on the teeth, but the starter drive gear has chamfered teeth.

How bad was the chamfered side of the ring gear? If it's not too bad you could just flip it back over and see how it does. Although it's a lot of work to do that! as you are dreading.

Unfortunately, it's probably what you'll need to do, if the "chamfer in place" advice above doesn't work out for you.

 

Thanks. You all have validated my fears lol. I could try pulling the inspection cover and make a chamfer between each as noted. If that doesn’t work then tear down. I drilled out the crank snout and put a dampener bolt in while the motor was on the stands turning it by hand isn’t an issue. Anyone have a good photo of the chamfer? Thanks!

 

stick a mirror thru the hole!

 

yeah, just pull the cover off the bottom of the bellhousing and look at the other side of the ring gear. Make sure you put the chamfer on the correct side of the tooth, opposite corner from the existing one.