I recently rebuilt my 383 stroker and the engine has been running great. It will start up just fine when cold. However, when the engine gets hot and I shut it off it won't fire up again. It has a hard time cranking and then it starts clicking like a dead battery. If I jump the battery however, it will start up again. I have about 14 or so volts when running, and just under 12 when not running. Is the starter heat soaking because I have headers now and I didn't before the rebuild? Also, this engine is 11.2:1 compression so maybe I need a high torque starter? But, it cranks just fine when cold and when it has enough volts. Is it battery or alternator related? Any help would be great, thank you.

 

To much initial timing ?

 

Heat soaked starter seems likely. Get a mini high torque starter, and potentially some heat shielding for it.

 

Initial is set at 16 degrees. Shouldn’t be too much I would think.

 

But why does jumping the battery allow it to crank? Wouldn’t a heat soaked starter not turnover no matter if the battery has enough juice or not.

 

Well, this is my hypothesis; it swells internally and has a certain amount of resistance that can't be overcome with the amps available from one battery. It cools as you hook everything up, and the extra amps give enough kick to overcome the binding.

 

If the starter is drawing excessive amps a jump will force it to work harder

 

Ok, so do you think I should use some heat shielding on the original starter or do I have to get a high torque starter?

 

High torque is a better match for your higher compression. Getting a mini starter though I think is critical to put some distance between the headers and the starter body. You'll get tons of opinions about heat shielding, I might just start with a mini high torque unit and see if that does the trick.

 

What is a good high torque mini starter that will fit a sbc? Do you know a part number?

 

I did some research and found that I can use a corvette or any LT1 starter. I saw one post that said if you use the lt1 starter that you need to extend the positive battery cable. Is this true? I would like to use an lt1 starter but don't want to extend any wires.

 

Are you running carb'd or injection? How is the engine running (when it is running), when it is at operating temp? I would definitely get a mini starter as stated above first (look at summit or whatever-there's like a gazillion decent starters for your SBC really), but it could also be other things depending on how you answer.

 

It's carbed and it runs fine. I think an lt1 starter is the way to go. I can get it at any parts store.

 

Then yep, I think that would be a good choice and solve your issue.

 

I recently swapped my old AC-Delco large starter for one of these. Highly recommend.

https://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/1001...g+Confirmation

 

Ok, so I picked up an corvette starter today from the junkyard and now the starter only clicks once almost like it's locked up, and it does not engage. Do you think I need a shim? Or did I get a bad starter?

 

Sounds like it would need a bit of shimming if that's the problem. Grab a set of jumper cables and a small wire and bench test it outside the car. If you're not confident in that, see if there's a auto parts place willing/capable of testing it.

 

Can I just drop the bolts on the starter and see if it will kick over?

 

It's not going to ground very well and the starter gear could contact things in ways you don't want.

 

Yeah you’re right I forgot it needs to be grounded out real good. I guess I can just bench test it. Also, I didn’t use the washers that go on the terminals. They were on my old starter but this on didn’t have them. Maybe that is the problem.