"mini" gear reduction starter bolt issues

[69heavychevy]

A few years back I was running a gear reduction starter from a late model Chevy truck. I finally gave up on it and removed it due to always having grinding issues.
I later found out it was because I wasn't using the correct mounting bolts.
Fast forward to present day and I find myself being forced to run the "mini" gm starter again due to clearance issues with a deep sump oil pan I installed.
After researching about which correct mounting bolts to use, I ordered gm part# 12338064.
My issue is the bolt works perfect for for the through hole, but is about 3/8" too long at the blind hole.
Anybody else have this issue?? Is there another starter bolt that has to be used for the blind hole??

[Nick_R_23]

Is this the 5.7 Vortec factory style mini starter, or an actual aftermarket mini starter? If it is the factory style, yes, they do take specific bolts. I got mine through Oreillys, but I can't seem to find the part number.

[LT7A]

If memory serves, TXfirefighter lists these in one of his threads. Maybe the flatbed? Even if he doesn't, you'll find hours of fascinating reading.

[69heavychevy]

Yes its an OE style mini starter. I'll do some more reading and see what I can find.

[69heavychevy]

No luck, everything I read says the bolts I ordered should work. I really dont want to run extra washers for one of the bolts. I'd prefer to do it the right way.

[blazer2007]

the bolts are here ,I just seen them a couple weeks ago but I can,t find them yet.I thought I thought I saved it but no

[tucsonjwt]

Proper high torque mini starter bolts are knurled below the threaded area. If the GM bolts are not like that, you can get the Hitachi bolts which are like that. To get the proper length, I would push a wire into the blind hole and mark the wire at the mounting surface, then measure the depth of the mounting plate on the starter. Add those two dimensions together and subtract the amount you want to seat short of bottoming out in the blind hole.

I am not sure about the length but this is what they should look like:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chevy-Buick-...ke%3AChevrolet

[69heavychevy]

Yea those are the exact bolts I have. Just kind of bummed because everything I read said those bolts should work. I never saw anything about people having issues with the blind mounting hole.
I'll measure the blind hole the next chance I get to see exactly what measurements I need to look for.

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by 69heavychevy

Yea those are the exact bolts I have. Just kind of bummed because everything I read said those bolts should work. I never saw anything about people having issues with the blind mounting hole.
I'll measure the blind hole the next chance I get to see exactly what measurements I need to look for.

The bolts recommended are too long. If you look at my build thread on Scarlett, I have listed the correct length bolt numbers.


Found it...

The good news is I finally found the correct starter bolts. I researched Dorman site and found the correct length. What I had was 3/8 16 x 4.5 and what I needed was 3/8 16 x 4 5/16" . That seemed a little long too, but I installed them very tight and they didn't bottom out.