Hi everyone, I tried to do my due diligence to find if others have had this issue but came up empty. I have a 383 Stroker with a 168 tooth flexplate and new PowerMaster starter. When I installed the starter I discovered the starter gear was already contacting the flex plate even before engaging/receiving power. Taking a closer look the flex plate is also extremely close to contacting a rear main seal stud on the back of the block. It also measures much closer to the rear of the block than all my other small block 350s, leading me to believe this is a flexplate issue, not a starter issue. I confirmed with my engine builder the flexplate was correct and oriented appropriately. So what could have caused this? I’m looking at a flexplate spacer as a possible solution but it seems this shouldn’t be an issue to begin with, maybe I’m overlooking something... Any help is greatly appreciated!
By looks of your pic , starter using inside bolts , Looks to be 168 tooth flex plate, Is the converter towers pads / humps facing transmission? ( on flexplate ) Maker of Flex plate?
Gen 1 block or one piece main seal , 2 different flex plate , I dont believe same anyways ( bolt pattern) ,Not @ my shop to verify,, the only thing I can think of Flex welded wrong or crank flange for Flex / fly machined to deep , ( you said ring looks to close to block /main seal) Ring gear on both Gen 1 & 1 piece should be in same location
1 piece rms. I’ll add more pics once I pull the trans off and get an actual measurement of the difference in spacing between this 383 and the other 350s before the flex plate also comes back off.
Before you pull the trans, Unbolt the converter and slide it back towards the trans. There should be 3/16" clearance between the flexplate and the converter pads [use a 3/16" drill bit to measure] If this ^^^^ measures OK ,then look at the starter [If not, it is the flexplate]
You should be able to buy shims to move the starter further away from the starter bracket that bolts to the block.
I have a similar problem, but the opposite direction. My flex plate gear is too far from the engine block to allow me to use a stock type starter. In my case I had to use a mini starter and remove the internal shims to move it toward the rear of the car. My flex plate is genuine GM, but I believe the gear was installed to the flex incorrectly.
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