I went to put my starter cone into the bellhousing yesterday and it wont quite go in all the way. I got a starter from PNP out of a 91 Formula auto tranny. It looks almost new and its a NAPA brand. Are the starters the same for autos and manual tranny cars?

 

153 tooth and 168 tooth flywheel/flexplate can use the same starter if it has both bolt patterns. To answer your question, unless you have 4 mounting bolt holes in your starter (using 2), they're not the same. Probably made that more confusing than it needed be but whatever

 

The noses on some GM starters are made for automatics and others for manuals. If you have your old starter you can take the nose off of it and put it on your nearly new one.

 

Get a mini for the correct teeth count.. problem solved

 

Hitachi PSL-100 FTW or if you want cheaper but still a good alternative to stock junk purchase one from http://www.dbelectrical.com/c-1693-chevrolet.aspx
I don't have one personally but I hear nothing but good reviews on DB starters on various sites. http://www.dbelectrical.com/p-1319-n...sdr0031-l.aspx is only $55 dollars and still a better alternative from a junkyard model.