Quick question on starter types, 60's vs 80's

[thewrai6th]

I have a 1984 350 engine bolted to a 1969 3 speed manual transmission/bell housing. I have been having trouble with the starter recently. It worked fine for about 1 year. I think it's twisting when it starts 3 or 4 times because I keep having to unbolt it and bolt it back up. In the process of grinding and whatnot, I screwed up the starter and it barely turns the engine over now.

I was going to get a new starter, but I saw that the original starter has 3 horizontal bolts to the transmission, vs the starter I have is 2 vertical bolts into the block. Any advantage over using one or the other?

[trac209]

ive seen this before,make sure the mounting holes on the starter aren't wallowed out. this causes the starter to shift and give those symtoms.

[thewrai6th]

One of the bolt holes on the block was stripped out so I had to use a longer bolt. Not sure if that is what you mean.
The bolt holes in the starter are a larger diameter than the bolts...

[Tx Firefighter]

If you're using the block mounted starter with the two bolts, you must have the proper starter bolts, not just generic 3/8 bolts. The proper bolts have a larger shoulder which is knurled to keep the starter from shifting around. You can get the right bolts at the parts store or from GM.

[thewrai6th]

I believe I was using the correct starter bolts, with the crosshatched end right before the threads. Either way, problem is fixed.
I bought the 3-bolt starter. Two of the three holes on the starter were threaded and prevented any misalignments or twisting. It bolted right up to the bellhousing and no more starter problems.
Thanks for the advice guys! I think the other starter might have had the bolt holes bored out because they were much larger diameter than the starter bolts and allowed a lot of twisting.