I have a small block 400 that was rebuilt not too long ago and here is what I'm going through.
When I bought the car it did not run so I took off the starter and transmission . When I took the starter off there was a shim. So when I put the starter back on I put the shim in the same way I took it out. When I try to start the motor just clicks clicks clicks start , I was told the starter was bad so I get a new one and am told try without shim first . Which I did and the same problem so I put the shim back and still the same click click click start. I have 2 new batteries and new cables . What is the problem here?
Anyone ever have this. This is a first for me.
Spar

May need more shims. The shims hold the starter away so that the gears mesh instead of clash.

Engine-to-body grounds in place??
Frame-to-body grounds in place?
Are they clean?

Sorry...but I don't think shims have anything to do with "click-click-click"...unless the starter is so loose/dirty its not grounding to the block.

Well I guess we could both be correct. But the only way to know is to hear what the click is. The click could be the starter hitting the fly wheel because the starter is too close to the block and needs shims. Also if you have a voltage drop you wont have a good pathway for the electricity to pass. If you have a multimeter place one fitting on the positive battery post in the center, then the other on the bolt on the starter where the wire connects. set it to dc volts, and to 10 or 20 volt range. have someone turn the key to try to engage the starter. If you get more than 1.5 volts then you have a voltage drop prob which is a resistance in that cable. Then do the same to the negative cable and place the meter on the battery and the starter bolt which holds the starter to the engine. Again if you have more than a 1.5volts then you have some sort of resistance in the negative le of the starter.

Rod...wouldn't the drive hitting the flywheel be more of a "clunk-whirr-grind"?
LOL :)
.....couldn't help myself!

Engine-to-body grounds or frame-to-body grounds have nothing to do with the starter operation.
Current takes the shortest path offering the least resistance and with the neg. cable attached to the engine and the pos. cable attached to the starter no starter current flows through either the body or frame.

You can check the ground strap on the motor by throwing a glass of water on it, that will ground it temporarily, but you might have bought a new bad starter, take it off and have autozone or whatever check it, sounds like a bad selonoid.

Also when you get a new or rebuilt starter there should be a check gauge, it's round and instructions on how to shim it when you put it back on, putting the same shim on a different starter will not assure you a proper alignment, when you put the alignment right on the money, they will be quieter and last a lot longer. It's easier to align them upfront, then change out a ring gear later.

Rob

The click click click is the starter trying to engage hitting the flexplate each time I turn the key. and sometimes it starts right away. Think I'll try a brace first on it then see if more shims are needed after that it goes to a mechanic.

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/500/medium/starter2.jpg

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/500/medium/starter.jpg

Dean, that was good.

Rob

Thank you all for the help . I bought some shims today so tomorrow night I will try them . Good thing Dean put on an instruction because the shims don't come with any. The auto people even laughed when I asked.
So thanks all.

What store did you buy the shims at?

Rob

I had the same problem with my starter. The starter that came with the car worked OK, but when I rebuilt the motor and everthing else, I put on a new (rebuilt) starter, as I was replacing everything else just to make it all fresh. Well, this starter would often click when trying to start, sometimes for several times and then start, other times it would click once and then start the next attempt. I tried using the shims in every possible configuration - under both bolts, under outside bolt only, then inside bolt. Used a drill bit as a gauge to shim it by the book. Nothing worked. I finally replaced the starter with what turned out to be the same brand (Delco) and the clicking problem went away completely. I would have thought that some combination of shims would have worked for the bad one, but it did not. Also, I know it was the starter gear hitting the flywheel because I observed it while under the car using a remote starter.