On Thu, 27 Oct 2011 17:02:19 -0700 (PDT), Tim
wrote:

On Oct 27, 8:49*am, North Star wrote:
The bricklayer who's tearing down and re-building my fireplace chimney
has a problem.
His work truck is a 1986 Chev Silverado 2 WD with a 454 motor.
He has put three starters on in the last 6 months and the current one
is failing.
Seems this motor isn't being made now and the locally supplied
starters aren't heavy enough ... they keep getting chewed up. *This
truck is original from the States and that may be another reason why
the proper part is hard to get. *Any advice?

Don,Sorry to get in on this late in the day....

what the problem is... is that the starters in that era were great
for a 5.7 (350) but not powerful enough for the "Big Block" 7 and 9
liter engines.

"Heat soaking" into the starter motor was enough to weaken and
already stressed load and that was bad enough.

Now what's going on when you say "chewed up" is, I take it the drive
gear in the starter is getting burred? OK, we'll work with that. It's
possible that his starter isn't fitting right to mesh with the
flywheel so there's the possibility it needs shims. OR the isn't
installing (or it's just plain missing) the end brace which helps to
secure the starter against the block. OR... his flywheel ring gear is
junk.

What I'd recommend is getting a starter for a 454 made in 1996 or
later. it's a little gear reduction permanent magnet starter that
whips the tar out of it, AND it fits correctly, even without the end
brace and will fit correctly without shimming. and they're good for
150,000 mi...

The salvage yards should have an abundance of them now seeing they've
been available for 15 years and are still current production. I don't
know how much a new one is there, but my cost on a brand new (not a re-
cap) is about 60 bucks USD. Yeah, they're really in expensive. I'd be
happy to send you one, but shipping and customs would probably be
pretty hefty.

Here's a pic of one

http://cf.mp-cdn.net/67/92/26b532276...7665afdd92.jpg

The only difference in installing one is that it would require shorter
mounting bolts

After years of starter grief. Delco and GM finally did something
right.

If I can help any other way, let me know, Don.

There's no customs between US and Canada for American made goods.

And shipping UPS ground is cheap.