Hello, I'm working on the 455 in my Dad's car, and the power master starter grinds no matter how I shim it. I tried a bunch of different shims including the nose cone shim. I'm pretty convinced the flex plate isn't correct. It an old SFI flex plate that has "pp455b" on it. Does anyone know who makes that? I think the problem is the starter gear doesn't have the 1/16 minimum required gap even with the nose shim on the starter. I put a stock 455 flex plate on and it has plenty of clearance. Who makes a nice 455 SFI flex plate for a street strip car? Does anyone have a flex plate/starter combo they know works?
It probably makes 550 HP and runs low 11s, so I'd like to use something better than stock. I figured a stock start would struggle to turn it over. Is the issue with the power master starter and not the flex plate?
My 430 making 180 cranking compression that I mentioned above with stock starter and flex plate has no problems. It makes about 450 hp, but not all at idle I’d try a rebuilt stock unit before calling it quits
My motor isn't craz . 12:1 464 never dynoed but sure its north of 600. Car and driver is 3650 has gone low 6.50s in the 1/8 so should be close to upper 10.30s/low 10.40s. I have a crank trigger running 35*of timing with 20* pulled on cranking through the ignition box.......but at th 15* my stk big box store starter has no issues. I'm going to try the lt1 starter though just to drop a few pound
I believe that correct.....the knurled area is different to fit the newer starter which took metric bolts. I believe you hunt around you can find them cheaper. I think 1 of bolts is still available through gm. Ta sells a similar start style TA 2022.......which I believe TA has made with metal gears inside not plastic......I could be wrong, hopefully mike will confirm. But it's hard to not go to big box store as I think many still shelf stk this starter so if out and about it's a simple swap out https://www.motorcityreman.com/1403...MIv6fqnr7J5AIVQ7DtCh0qIwb_EAQYAiABEgI2dvD_BwE
This has come up a few times b4 http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/mini-starter.349731/page-2 http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/sbb-96-97-lt-starter.324275/
OK, it all depends on EXACTLY what kind of mini starter you have. The stock type PG260 starters can only be shimmed for gear back lash. Those shims go between the starter and the engine block. If you have the type of mini starter with a separate mounting block, you can shim between the mounting block and the starter body to back the gear away from the flex plate. You may need more than one shim, I did. I went through this same problem. When my 470 was built, JW used what he described on my invoice as a "budget SFI" flex plate. I had been using one of Jamie's PG260 mini starters, and transferred it to my new 470. Almost immediately, it started grinding on me pretty consistently. Thinking it had seen better days, I replaced it with a 95 Roadmaster starter from Rock Auto. That starter lasted only 2 months before it left me stranded at a gas station. AAA towed me back home and I warrantied the starter at Rockauto. I then decided to try the Robb Mc starter, https://www.robbmcperformance.com/products/buick_starter.html I quickly discovered that my pinion was almost touching the flex plate. I used the supplied shim between the mounting block and starter body, but that wasn't enough. I contacted Robb and he sent me another shim. I installed the 2 shims together (1/8") and everything was golden. A few years later, I ordered a 9.5" converter from Jim Weise, and I figured while I was in there, I might as well change the flex plate. By this time, Jim was using a different flex plate on his engines, so I ordered that as well. Once I had everything buttoned up, I went to install my Robb Mc starter, and low and behold, the pinion is a mile away from the flex plate. I removed BOTH shims, and the clearance was perfect. The starter is silent as well. Conclusion, the original flex plate on my engine had the ring gear welded on differently. It placed the ring gear teeth closer than stock. Maybe it was offset to the wrong side of the plate. In any case, I am confident that I can use a stock GM mini starter should I have to. These are the markings on my original SFI flex plate, If you compare the two flex plate pictures, you can see the new one has offset built into it. My original is flat. The one Jim uses now resembles a stock flex plate. It's a nice piece and pretty too. (Cad Plated)
Contact Powermaster. It's a problem that they're aware of and have a shim kit for the starter to fix the issue.
Larry, My old flywheel looked exactly like the one you posted. I called Jim and he sold me one like you bought from him. He was a super nice guy, and I think this will fix all my issues. Thanks for the advice!!!
It will, that was my issue. It was OK though when I used 2 shims. I didn't need any shims with the new flex plate.
