168 vs 153 tooth flywheel

[Todd in Vancouver]

Think I'm already know the answer but thought I would throw this out there. In my assembling of stuff for my engine and car I've made some changes in the process and jumped around a bit. So today I'm doing my per-assembly on my engine to transmission and have a look at this ;


The block has the offset bolt pattern so I ordered a starter for a 168 tooth flywheel. But, my flywheel is a 153 tooth and from what I see in the catalog it's just a one or the other. I'm using a Powermaster XS 9526 starter.



any suggestions ? I'm thinking I will need to order a 168 tooth flywheel which will be a real pain as I had this one balanced when I built my engine and had the bottom end balanced as well.

[Mr_Roboto]

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/csi-100psbp/overview/ How about this? I thought that they had made something in a production starter that was staggered at 153T, but it's very possible I've lost my mind because what I'm finding points to the contrary.

[Todd in Vancouver]

I'm really hitting a brick wall here and from the reading I've done it appears the easiest (ie less expensive) way out is to just get a new flywheel for a couple hundred bucks.

[Mr_Roboto]

Question, by the photo it looks like the block is out of the car. Any way to get it drilled and tapped? If so that's the way I'd roll. Just take it to a machine shop and slip em a few bucks to get it squared away.

[IMPALA MAN]

I thought the aftermarket mini starters were designed with multiple bolt patterns to work with either. You may want to call one of the manufacturers to check. It beats ruining a good balance job on the engine.
Here is a link to a TCI unit.
http://www.tciauto.com/tc/gm-racing-starter.html

[Todd in Vancouver]

Thanks Impala Man & Mr. Roboto and the challenge is the offset bolt pattern. The engine is all together and in the frame so taking it to a machine shop for tapping the extra hole is out. The cost of the replacement starter is more than a replacement flywheel let alone the money I spent on the starter I have. I've made good friends with my machine shop so I will upgrade to a billet flywheel and go get it balanced again. This will make for balance number 3 after going from auto to standard and then to a bigger flywheel.

[Todd in Vancouver]

In the end the best way for me to resolve this issue was to replace the flywheel. The cost of a new billet flywheel was cheaper than replacing my high torque starter and such. New flywheel is in and all is right now.

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