im replacing the starter and was wondering if any of you had to shim your starter. This is an Autozone starter BTW. thanks

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Carbed 2.9 engine build in progress. forged pistons, crane cam, fully balanced, ARP bolts, double roller timing chain and more
--Adam--
IM AOL: FieroGT5speed

I just used the shim that my old starter had and it worked fine.

one of the joys of GM starters. usually, you re-shim using whatever shim was there before, and hope it was correct. sometimes you can tell if its wrong by the sounds it makes when you crank. the proper way is to check EVERYTIME you change the starter. I've done it once. basicly, you push the gear forward, so it goes into the flywheel, then try and stick a round guage (i used a big paper clip) between the gear mesh. if it doesnt fit, you need to shim the starter away, if its got lotsa room, you need to shim the starter closer. the shims are sold in packs, that have different thicknesses, depending on what you need to do. they are pretty cheap, and are much easier than replacing a flywheel. If I remeber right, you use the whole shim, across the face to move it away, and you bend the shim over, and just use it on one side to shim it closer. the reason for the shimming is becuase of inconsistancies in the block machining, and the way GM starters are mounted - from the bottom, not parallel with the starter torque.

im just going to try using the factory shim and hope for some luck, really the factory shim is just as thick as the pack of shims they gave me with the starter

Some need and some don't.
I always check.
There should be a gauge with the replacement starter with instructions of it's use.

Or, you can get lucky.

My 84 se came with a shimmed starter. When I swapped in the 3100 with the 2.4
flywheel and a junkyard starter, I forgot to install the shim, and cranked it over.

It works perfectly.

As long as I've owned my Fieros, I've never had to use a starter shim. Neither of my Fieros ('86 coupe and '87 SE) had shims on the starters when I bought them. And I haven't needed to shim the replacement starters.

I must be incredibly lucky.

[This message has been edited by Blacktree (edited 07-13-2004).]

Starter shim instructions are in my cave.

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The only thing George Orwell got wrong was the year.

The Ogre's Fiero Cave (It's also at the top of every forum page...)

Keep in mind that what works cold my not work hot. As parts heat up, how they relate to each other changes so just checking cold may not be an indicator of future results.

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RickN
White 88GT 5spd
White 85GT Auto