I recently put in a high torque starter on my 70. Upon doing so i was basically trying to get the car to start and run properly. Well i kept blowin the carb (power valve i guess). And in the process of trying to start it so many times i guess one of the two bolts on the starter may have been too long or too short because it backed itself out of the block from all the cranking. So when i went to retighten the bolt, it wont thread into the block (so now i get a grinding noise when i try to start the car). So i wondering what i can do to get the starter on there properly? Longer bolt?

 

I guess my first plan of attack would be to get a tap and try to clen up the threads and try it again, maybe even use a die and run it oer the starter bolt as well so both are cleaned up.

If that does'nt work about the only other option is a heli-coil. Only down fall with that is alot of guys will say that starter bolt running true is crutial so you take a chance of getting wobbled or off center which could lead into future starter/flywheel damage. They say the only way to properly get it fixed is to take it into the machine shop and have them bolt it into their maching jig so it's all perfectly true...but I'm not one that enjoys working on my car much less pulling motor out and apart so I would try the heli coil first as I can deal with tearing up $150 stuff before the headache of pulling everything out

 

one of my starter bolts stripped on me in my Small block. I tapped it out and put in a heli-coil. Just be sure to drill the bolt straight and you shouldnt have any problems. i did this 2 years ago and it's going strong

 

I had a starter bolt hole strip on me on an aluminum block and i used a helicoil. has been fine for over a year. Im sure if it works on a aluminum it will work on cast iron.

 

Before you blame the threads in the block, check the length of the bolt.

Shove it all the way through the starter and see what's sticking out the other side. There should be about 1/4" of the bolt shank AND THEN THE BOLT THREADS START. That 1/4" of shank is how the bolt aligns itself to the bolt hole. The threads inside the block don't start until about 1/4-3/8" into the hole.

It's possible if you were using too short a bolt you just caught the last couple of threads and stripped them out. There might still be plenty of usable threads inside the block if you could clean it out with a tap and get the right length bolt.

Worth a check before you start drilling, tapping and heli-coiling.

 

thanks... i will definately look into that.