I have been having problems on my 65 for years. I have put about 4 differnt starters, large & small. Long nose & Short, Shimeed up and down. I can't get it to work. I've even replaced the flexplate several times and now I rebuild my starter regularly. Its a 65 with a 350 in it. When installed it starts fine and works for about 5 or 10 starts then grinds out and the teeth on the starter are gone. Could this be heat soak? I bought a shield and will try that next. I have headers. Please help as I want my car for summer .

1965 Chevelle Malibu SS
350 Motor - Camaro I think

You don't say which transmission, but I would start by getting the proper starter/flexplate/engine combination for the transmission used. Most if not all factory installations also used a "front" brace on the starter, its a good idea to use it. And, use "real" starter bolts. They have a knurled section to locate and hold the starter when loaded. With the proper parts, and clearances, a lot of cars last WAY longer than you've experienced. Typically heat soaking causes a symptom similar to a bad solenoid due to the piston sticking in the outer housing.

I went through this with my son's 83 full size pick-up. Did the same as you with the same results. I went so far as to measure the height from the mounting surface (of the starter) to the centerline of the armature on six different starters and found variations of over .125"! but even the "shortest" one still was too far away from the ring gear. You know about the paper clip measuring tool right? Anywho, I finally got a starter through a auto electric shop that he claimed was the type that he used to convert cars from the bellhousing mounted type to the later block mounted type when changing motors. It sounded fishy to me but it works. I was also told rebuilt starters are shorter due to being re-machined so they will need shims to work but all the ones I tried were too tall (gear too far away like yours). All else fails, have someone machine some off your mounting surface (.025"?) and try again. You can always shim it back the other way. Good luck.

I also have the same problem in my Malibu. 396 Th-400. The teeth are going fast and i've put shims untill I've reached the recommended distance but still the same old grind :(

I have tried the rear bracket and "real starter bolts", I have also already had my starter milled and that didn't solve it either. Where did you get that custom starter? I'll check the tranny, flexplate, motor combo but I've done that before

You can shim the starter "in" tighter to the flywheel by cutting a shim in half and using it on the outside bolt only. If you haven't tried that yet, give it a shot.

Hi, I had the same problem with my 66 396 4-speed. I spoke with some older men and they said to try a cast iron starter nose. I did and had it in the car for 10 years and sold the car. Never had a problem since. I will only use a cast iron nose starter. Ray :confused:

I know on a BB the directions say to put a 5/64 drill bit in between the starter shaft and the flywheel teeth. Reading the directions has kept me from making fish habitat with old starters like I constantly used to. Hope this helps :D