i have recently drilled and tapped to 7/16 bolts w/heli coils and after doing so,the starter seems to be a little bit to far away from flexplate. is there a starter out there that has three bolts or is there some type of adapter plate or somthing to get me out of this bind. any help would be greatfully apreciated thanks. 97 chevy blazer awd 4.3 v6

 

One thing I do know is that GM starter bolts have special little groves on them that keep the starter from grinding.
Do the ones you got have those little knurls under the threads?


http://paceperformance.com/i-6255706-3733289-starter-mounting-bolt-3-8-16-x3-5-8-small-block-chevy-big-block-chevy-90-degree-
v6.html


There kind of like old school shims.

 

actualy no they are grade 8 7/16 bolts

 

have you tried any shims?
they do come with a new starter..

 

Get the GM bolts

 

If I recall, when you use a heli-coil on the starter bolt, it doesn't matter if you use the GM knurled bolts. The recess that the knurl fits into ends up with a thread from the heli-coil tap.

 

i have the heli coil sunk in a full turn. im wondering if the flex plate could be warped from starting it with loose starter. the truck was having kick back issues so i dont know

 

If the hole was drilled out of alignment, I don't know how you're going to fix it. A 3/8" or 10mm Keensert maybe?
On the old SBCs, if the starter was loose, or turned slightly because of sloppy holes(hehe), the starter would engage then kick out after a second, or wouldn't disengage.
Pretty tough to warp a flex plate, but who knows.

 

this may sound crazy but its worth a try.im going to pay 30 for junkyard starter and use a 5/8 drill bit where the the bolts go threw the starter and hopefully be able to get the alignment right. there wont be much material left on the starter block so i hope that it will not crumble to pieces when it cranks.im running out of ideas for this situation and there is no way i could afford a new block so maybe if all else fails i will just fill the holes with weld and try and re tap back 3/8 and get the knurled bolts.. what a nightmare this has been.thanks for your help

 

oh yeah i meant to ask if a broken motor mount could cause alignment issues with starter