Starter issue.

In this latest build of my 521 I put in a transmission cover plate on my 351M / 400 bellhousing that I had not used last time, and changed to a Ford Racing 521 SFI flywheel , now my mini starter is eating up teeth, seems it's only about 1/2 engaging the flywheel teeth. Are there different nose length starters that would solve this problem? The starter was just rebuilt too. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

blown473 wrote:In this latest build of my 521 I put in a transmission cover plate on my 351M / 400 bellhousing that I had not used last time, and changed to a Ford Racing 521 SFI flywheel , now my mini starter is eating up teeth, seems it's only about 1/2 engaging the flywheel teeth. Are there different nose length starters that would solve this problem? The starter was just rebuilt too. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I would assume with the use of the cover plate it spaced you starter back? Any reason why you can't have either a spacer on the on the Flywheel to bring it back on the crank or even have one made to space the starter forward? I would have had the same issue with my mid plate that i originally bought, but had Keith make me a nice one piece midplate to space it all evenly forward....maybe provide a pic of the area so we can see it better.

Don

blown473 wrote:In this latest build of my 521 I put in a transmission cover plate on my 351M / 400 bellhousing that I had not used last time, and changed to a Ford Racing 521 SFI flywheel , now my mini starter is eating up teeth, seems it's only about 1/2 engaging the flywheel teeth. Are there different nose length starters that would solve this problem? The starter was just rebuilt too. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Blown,
Are you referring to engagement, front-to-rear or radially from the crank center?
Some mini-starters (CSR...Tilton type) offer shim adjustment of the fore and aft depth. If yours has the shims, they can be removed to give deeper engagement. There is a variation (from OE) in the offset of some aftermarket flexplates.
If you want to talk about your deal in detail, you are welcome to call any time. I have seen quite a few situations and may be able to help.
Keith
678-458-2033

Thanks Keith, I may call you if I can't figure it out. Funny thing, I just tried a 351M factory Ford starter off an engine I have in inventory, and it works perfect, no issues, but it does turn the engine over much slower so I will have to test it when the engine is hot. Factory starters have the cast support to the gear, I'm wondering if I'm getting to much starter shaft movement, that maybe that's my issue. I just had my old mini starter rebuilt too, and it's already showing movement.