I have a fresh 383 (350 block) and the starter keeps coming lose from the flywheel. the teeth on the starter slides to just out of contact with the flywheel so that it just spins. I went and bought a couple different starters thinking that i had the wrong one but it just happened again. So i keep having to go under there, losen it up, bring the teeth in, and tighten it up. Has anyone else had a problem like this?

 

Do you have real starter bolts in there? There are specific bolts you need for the starter.

 

Yea, sounds like your using the wrong bolts. The shank of the starter bolt acts as a dowel to locate the starter in the right place.

 

you might also want to check if you need shims, but thats in addition to getting the right bolts in there

 

And there are 2 different length starter bolts.... 350/high performance starters (sometimes called "heavy duty") have slightly longer bolts than 305/low output motor starters. The correct length bolts should have about 1/4" of the bolt SHANK sticking out above the flange of the starter before the threads begin. The shank itself will have a "checkerboard" pattern for about 1/2" below the threads if it's a real starter bolt.

It's this little bit of the shank that sticks through into the block and provides positive location. The threads inside the block don't start until about 1/4" inside the block to accept this short locating length of the bolt shank to stick in there.