305 H.O. engine out of '86 Monte Carlo SS. 100,000 miles +. Blowing oil out of the breather/leaking oil/ burns some too - in other words-wore out! Rode hard & put up wet for several years now. Best E.T. was 15.19 deep staging last year but has slowed some since. Intake, carb, headers,ignition, & valve springs are only motor changes. Long block never been apart. Initial timing is bumped up from stock specs. Running two shims on the starter & have been for several years. The nose of the starter broke off yesterday. It is a rebuilt unit probably 3 years old from Advance Auto Parts- (a chain store here in Georgia-who exchanged it today with no problems). graemlins/hurray.gif I imagine that it had been cracked for awhile, and with the low 30 degree temps, It gave it up when I went to crank it yesterday. The nose broke completely off. :confused: Is it more than likely that it needs more shims or did I overtighten the starter bolts ? I mean how can a wore out, no compression, weenie motor do something like that ? Certainly I did something to contribute to this failure. But what ??? Any Comments ? Thanks. Dave H

Do you have the brace from the front of the starter up to the block ? All it takes is a slight backfire or kickback while tring to start and it will break.

Hi Bill graemlins/waving.gif Never has had a brace. And it has kicked back before-not often-but it has happened. Sounds like this could definately be the culprit. Thanks for your help ! Dave H

ya a kick back on the starter sure will break the noses off and tear things up. most of the braces get thrown away the first time someone changes a starter ......it should be on there.....with such a heavy starter and the forces that it takes if you have ever seen a starter while cranking the motor you will see it will move quit abit. the brace helps support the weight of the starter and most of the time will eliminate the need for shims.

Hi ddennis graemlins/waving.gif , Thanks for your input as well. I believe I actually have one of the braces in my spare stuff. Mighta come outta the original 305 (now dead- :rolleyes: ) in my pretty wagon. :confused: Not exactly sure where I got it from though as the original 305 H.O. starter all of these posts are related to stayed with the car the motor came from. I thought this starter brace that you are refering to was something that originally came on a high performance motor from the '60s to 70s. Not from a lame 305 outta the mid-80s. Thanks. Dave H