Ugh I have a set of headman headers (Hedman 68470) And the y pipe, my problem is as follows it says a mini starter wont fit in the car (and I tryed and ya know what they where right) the reason I ended up trying a mini was because the stock starter doesnt fit eather, I dont know what to do and its giving me a killer head ache becuase Ive spent a week 2 differnet starters and my stock starter and nothing fits so what is everyone else running because someone out there has my headers and is running there car just fine without my head ache I just finished modding the y pipe (2.5 inch collector crap to a 3 inch mandrel bent thing of beauty lol) anyways any help would be great and sorry if this is the wrong form but I wasnt sure where to post. Thanks again!

 

I have a regular AC Delco starter on mine and had no problems putting those same headers on.. at least as far as the starter is concerned..

 

Is it the staggered bolt or the standard bolt? im running a 400 with the 168 tooth fly wheel and the staggered bolt pattern on the starter. When I try to bolt up my AC Delco it hits right where the primarys merge at welds, it ends up hitting my solinoid (and just the stupid bolt no less) and it also hits up against the bracket that holds the screws for the starter to be bolted to the engine block, and personally I just dont know what to do or if my starter is bigger then a normal ac delco starter (dont ask me how that works) I would be willing to get another one again if someone could point me toward something that would fit about the same sence the ac delco starter is the closest thing that fits in the space provided.

 

start grinding on the starter, thats exactly what i did about 15000 miles ago. then remount that solenoid another way.

 

Yup, with the big 400 flywheel that will move the starter over towards the headers. I built a street 406 (420 hp/485 lb ft) for my brothers Monte Carlo and used SLP headers and had to grind on the header flange where it bolts to the "Y" pipe to a point where there wasn't much left of that side of the header flange to clear the starter. This left a spot on the flange where there wasn't much gasket left. We have had to replace the gasket only once though. If I were to build another 406 for a Camaro I would use the stock flywheel (I think 154T) and starter and use what they call a pork chop that bolts on to the stock flywheel for the external balance that the 400 needs. Much better deal.

Auggie

 

A pork chop never heard of that before is that the technical term? lol. How much do they go for and where did you get it? I was thinking of removing the solenoid and trying to make it into a remote solenoid much like the ford starters. It makes me just a little nervous to start grinding on the bracket where the bolts slide through just to clear the headers so it bolts up properly. I just dont want to grind too far and find that it developed a crack because of how much I took off of it. But I guess it fitting is better then it not fitting. What do you guys think of the remote mount solenoid idea? I dont see why it wouldnt work but this wouldnt be the first time I got in too deep with a project car.

 

The Ford part does not work. The Delco starter needs the solenoid to push the drive in.

(should have waited for a set of my headers) (Shugggg!)

 

lol sorry needed to move the car don, but hey maybe in a month or so (depending on when you get some more fabbed up Ill pick up a set, money isnt too much of an issue right now, Im just trying to get the car up and out of where its been sitting for the past year sence Ive been over sea's for most of the time Ive had it lol. Your the best mechanic I know any advice to get it to fit I really dont want to cut off the bolt on the out side of the delco starter unless I really have to I was going to go red neak on it and epoxy it but that seemed alittle too temporary for me lol. I just need to get past the outside bolt and take off maybe a 1/16 inch off the outside bracket for the bolt to the block (I hope everyone knows what Im talking about when I say that) or if I can find a smaller starter but not a mini for the damn thing. Its turning out to be some work but eh it gives me something to do between deployments.

 

Here's a pic of the "pork chop" that you can use with a 12 3/4"/153T flexplate for a 400 engine so you can use your stock flexplate and starter. This plate takes the place of the weight on the 400 flexplate and mounts between the crank and the flexplate. I think you can use flywheel bolts that are 1/4" longer #839756. Remote sol. sounds like a good idea.

Auggie

 

your making a big deal out of nothing.
grind that part of the starter down and redrill for the solenoid. bolt it and go.
the starter is only 50.00 so who cares. took me like 15 mins 15,000 miles ago with no issues.

I was in the exact same boat as you with the 168 tooth flexplate and the stagger bolt pattern with the same headers.

 

Ok thanks then Ill just go ahead and give the grinding a shot, good to know someone went through what I did lol. I was going to kill someone if I kept having to drop money on something I didnt need or want. I mean Ive spent more time and money on this damn car lol. But to make a long story short Ill give it a shot and see how it goes. But thanks everyone for everything and Don if you read this send me a pm when you get some of your famous headers ready to go and Ill see if I can open the wallet for the set we talked about. Thanks again!

 

Your sig says 5 spd. if so....you can't get a 168 tooth starter to clear the bellhousing. Maybe you have an after market housing?

 

Ford uses basically the same starter. The difference is, the Ford starter has a solenoid mounted on the inner fender panel, a Chevy starter has the solenoid built in.

I know you were thinking you could just remove part of the Chevy starter, for clearance, but you can't. It is basically a difference in wiring.

GM remote mount starter solenoid kit

No need to buy a kit though...Buy the Ford solenoid, and do the rest yourself. I did it to my 68 Camaro LONG before the kits were available.

Besides, that won't help you anyways. It's good for heat soaked starters.

 

Don your right thats the camaro sig though the trans am has the 700r4 Im holding out to swap in a t-56 but with the starter problems I was having I dont know if I want to do this but I really would rather have a manual then my slush box. Anyways to make a long story short starter ground and fit... barely it touches the headers so Im kinda nervous sence I ground out the whole outside bolt and then some. But we will see how long it lasts, it started so thats the main thing I guess. Maybe Ill look into modding a ford starter bracket to fit the ford starter with the remote solenoid, the main thing is that I have a starter that fits at least alittle better then what I have now. Anywho thanks everyone for the help and hopefully Ill have some money for your headers don when ya whip up a set.

 

did you redrill the bolt hole for the solenoid? you should have.
you should have also ground enough off so the starter does not hit the headers because that will suck with rattling and heating the starter up.
I also have coated headers. if you do not you will heat that starter up and maybe heat soak it enough to not restart hot depending on your base ignition timming.. Just use your head when you are modifying stuff and you wont wait for a failure.

 

Header touching the starter? That's guaranteed heat soak failure.

Let it get up to operating temp, then try to start, it won't. For a track only car, that should be acceptable. There should be enough time between runs, for it to cool down, besides not getting THAT hot to begin with.

For a street car, a header touching the starter, is asking for a heat soak failure.

 

Yup, their right and living in Calif you could at least wrap the starter and sol. with a temp rest. blanket.

Auggie

 

Well I honestly dont know what to do then because I ground so much off the starter it actually had a pin sized hole from how thin the metal was in one spot and it still touches, I will try wraping it but honestly I think I need a smaller starter. (but again not a mini) Ive already taken everything off that side that I could and its not enough. this is too frustrating. Oh and Im not in cali right now Im in Oregon lol long story but military traveling and what not. Oh I almost forgot I could always just by pass the solenoid (the whole ford setup) as far as heat soak goes but yeah I would rather have it done right then half *** it.