Just what I wanted to hear

[mike reeh]

as was said the cracks are where the knurled part of the bolt goes into the block.. not where the threads where..

Id bet dollars to donut holes that what happened was your starter kicked back HARD once or twice and tried bending that bolt in the block.. IF you had the OEM starter strap on the other end of the block installed, this would have never happened. Its not that bad, get some new starter bolts, a new starter, (high quality) and that strap which should be available at the dealer, and RUN it! Fix it when you rebuild the engine, not now..

Heres one of those starter braces. I run one and recommend you do too.. it bolts to that long peice of all thread thats on the back of that starter motor, and goes up to the engine block where there is a threaded hole..

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=2440257188

mike