I took out my 1996 305 vortec and replaced it with a 350 vortec , my 305 starter was bad but i had a rebuilt starter laying around from a 1988 tbi 350 , this 1988 starter does'nt seem to fit , it hits on the torqe convertor dust cover , do i need a different starter or a different dust cover?
Thanks

 

Starter compatibility has more to do with your flex plate than it does with your dust cover.As long as your dealing with a gen 1 block,which both of these motors are,a 168 tooth flex plate requires a starter with the offset bolt pattern and a 153 tooth flexplate requires the starter with a straight bolt pattern.This is for automatics obviously.I just replaced my large offset starter with one of the newer small offset starters.It bolted right up to the block but my dust cover wouldn't clear either.I just trimmed it abit,no big deal.

 

my 305 starter had a straight bolt pattern and the 1988 starter has a straight bolt pattern and it looks like it would bolt up if the dust cover was'nt preventing it from going in far enough , i'll trim my dust cover like yours and see if i can get it to work , it seems my 1988 tbi starter is bigger then my 305 vortec