Man I have been messing with this for 3 hours. I have the 2 starter bolts in...and I cannot for the life of me get at the one that secure the bracket to the side of the block!!! Can I leave it off???? It's just a little thing that gets torqued at 9-13 lbs...I suppose someone is gonna tell me it's crucial it aligns the the starter gear to the ring gear or something...
Back out the 2 big bolts some so you can wiggle the starter around some. If you do decide to leave it off, keep it, that way if you break the nose of the starter and have to change it again, you can re-install the bracket.
My eleven year old helped out, he was under that car for an hour plus, trooper. Finally we dropped the starter (I find putting the starter on a jack to raise it up and down helped tons) flipped the L bracket so the slot is up on the block, this allowed easier access. This way he was able to get the bolt started and then I snuck in there with a 1/4 drive. You have to use one of those little dentist mirrors on a stick (antenna) other wise you will never make contact with that bolt. In the past I would just remove my exhaust manifold but I cemented them on using a skim coat of high temp copper silicon (just finished engine rebuild). I pissed away most of my day screwing around with that thing. Maybe tomorrow I will get it started. Anyway, gotter done.
I hear that all the time from folks who then mysteriously begin to have problems keeping the starter aligned. GM doesn't install parts that aren't needed. And Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, and Cadillac ALL use some version of that bracket. Seems clear to me that the thing IS needed.
