I have a standard (as far as I know) 305 5Ltr 1987 Firebird. I live in the UK and need a new starter. There are a few on Ebay over here, but I'm not sure if they'll fit my car. I've read about inline and offset bolt patterns. I haven't taken my starter out yet, so I'm not sure what exactly I have. According to the Haynes book, I think they're inline bolts.

Here are a couple of the starters I'm looking at:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SB-BB-Chevy-Ne...1%7C240%3A1318

and

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1-9HP-SB-BB-CH...1%7C240%3A1318

Can anyone give me any idea if these will fit my car?

 

Either of thise should work fine. The clue is in the pics. See how the pad at the end has 2 sets of holes? They're dual-drilled to work with either of the 2 common sizes of SBC flywheel/flexplate. You should have the 153 tooth, 12.75". There's a possibility that your stock starter uses one short bolt and one long bolt, while either of these will require 2 long bolts. Starter bolts really do need to be AT LEAST grade 8.

 

Thanks for the info. Would you agree that the bolts on mine are in line rather than offset? It appeared from the Haynes manual that the starters with offset bolts were on the V6's. All of the starters I've seen pictures of for V8's, look like they have bolts that are in line.

 

The SBC V8s have used offset-bolt starters, but MOSTLY in fullsize pickup trucks. dunno if you have a source for ARP brand fasteners, they're the thing over here, but ARP has a starter bolt kit, their part number is 430-3503, you might look into.

 

Okay, now I'm awake. It just hit me what you're really wanting to know. I've yet to see a 305 block that won't accept an inline-bolt starter.

 

Thats ok I just wondered where the offset ones would've been used. I've just found a guy thats got a 2nd hand starter with the inline bolts. I assume I could reuse my old bolts if they fit ok. I think we can get ARP olts over here. If not, I work for an engineering co, so should be able to get whatever bolts I need.
Thanks for your help!

 

you bet. thanks for saying thanks.