SCCA Fiero told me to notice where the shim points when I replace my starter? Could you explain this!? I took the one out of my parts car last weekend and had it tested at Auto Zone and it works fine, just want to make sure I replace it right-Thanks!

The starter shim on my 87' GT has a little tab that points toward the front of the car. It's really obvious which way it goes, just rember how it looked before.

Do all starters used on Fiero's have shims?
As I recall my 85' 2m4 didn't have one when I pulled the original starter off, But it needed one with the replacement.

shimming will varry from one car/starter to another.

If you take off a starter and out the same starter back then use whatever shim was there.

if you move a starter from one car to another or otherwise replace a dead starter then you may have to add or remove shim stock.

You have to be carfull with shims on GM cars. not enough and the bendix won't engauge or it will bind and not last long. Too much and you run the tips of the teeth which can break teeth off the flywheel.

To setup a new/replacement starter begin with no shim. pull the bendix out by hand and see if it will engauge the flywheel. DO NOT attempt to crank the engine without checking this! If the bendix binds or won't engauge then you could break it. If it is to high then you could break teeth off the flywheel.

if it hits and can't easily drop into the flywheel teeth then you add 1 shim at a time untill it clears. You should only rarely need more than one or two shims. If you have shims of diferant thickness, always start with the thinest ones.

If the starter is high on the flywheel teeth with no shim get a diferant starter. If the starter teeth are not at least 1/2 way meshed with the fly wheel it's too high.

The bendix teeth should engauge the entire width of the flywheel teeth or very close to it.

my 84 automatic 2.5L fiero has a shim on the starter and also my moms 2.8L 88 chevy celebrity has one also.

Was going to post this as a new topic but it fits here.
Are the starters for the V6 and 4's the same? (interchangable)
I understand that the 4's have a bracket on the back tail end of the starter and the V6's do not but other than that they look the same?
Both my V6's have shims and the one I took off a 4 had a shim!

The 4 and 6 starters look the same, but I think they are different. I tried to use a 4 cyl starter on a v6 and cooked the solenoid. You could probably use the 6 cyl starter on a 4 but definitley not the other way around.

Bigger motors usually have heavier starters. you can usually go down the power scale but not up. I haven't tried it with a GM, but there is no reason for a V6 or V8 starter to not work in a 4. GM starters are physically all the same, at least as long as you ignore things like Geo that has an import motor.

If you do put a 6 starter on a 4 move the braket to the new starter.

I used to do this all the time with Ford starters. You had to change the head shell with them but the motors and bendix where all the same. the big engines just had stronger starter motors.

3CYL GEO METRO STARTERS. I think the metro 3 has the strongest starter in the GM line. I heard its a direct bolt to a 3500 Full Size truck and/or the 99 lingenfelter Twin Turbo Corvette.
btw.......This is a joke. DO NOT TRY THIS SWAP!!!!!!
hmmmmm.....maybe use the whole 3 cyl motor to start the vette. I heard the new metros can get 70 mpg on the highway. any one else hear that?

Thanks guys, but after reading above I don't know if I should use this starter? I got it off my parts car (85 2M4) but had a V6 put in it! So I don't know if it will work in my GT? If you do an engine swap like this car did from a 4 to a 6 would it be the old 4 cyl. starter or a 6!

Starter for the V6 and 4 are the same, remember the size of the engines, arent that far off. 2.5 vs 2.8! I have done this in a pinch. My wife has an 87 4 and I have an 85 6. same starter. I know because Ive been under and around both engines intimately!