1965 396 starter to oil pan interference

[Dave C.]

We have just finished putting my 1965 396 back together and we went to bolt the starter on which is a 352 date code 5 d 6 and I can't get the bolts in because the starter is hitting the oil pan at the point furthest away from the the bell housing. I believe the pan was off a 1966 big block. Any one got any ideas.

thanks

Dave

[Joe L.]

Re: 1965 396 starter to oil pan interference

Dave-----

This is a wierd one. As far as the oil pan goes, it should not make any difference what year Corvette it came off of. Any 65-74 Corvette pan should work with no problem, at all. Even if it was a pan from another chassis it should work without interference with the starter. It might have other chassis fitment problems, but the starter should not be involved.

I'll take a "stab" at it here: while the starter FRAME is correct, are you sure the starter NOSE is also correct? It should be an aluminum nose that attaches with a long and a short bolt.

[Mike McKown]

That'd be my guess *NM*

[Joe L.]

Addendum

Just to be clear, when I said "attaches", I meant attaches to the BLOCK with a long and short bolt.

[Bill W.]

Re: 1965 396 starter to oil pan interference

do you have the correct 396 lightweight flywheel and correct bellhousing ???

[Dave C.]

Re: 1965 396 starter to oil pan interference

Thanks guys - it is a 403 bell housing with a 10 1/2 inch flywheel. The nose of the starter is aluminum. Could the nose be wrong?

[Joe L.]

Re: 1965 396 starter to oil pan interference

dave-----

The nose could be wrong even if it's aluminum. However, I will not be wrong if it's aluminum AND it uses a long and a short bolt for attachment to the block.

[Wayne M.]

Pic of starter nose 403 bell with BB oil pan

its about 45 thou clearance between pan and front (larger dia) starter case. This has the long and short bolts that Joe L. described.

[Dave C.]

Re: Pic of starter nose 403 bell with BB oil pan

Thank you Wayne for the trouble of snapping a picture. As Joe mentioned, I am going back to the machine shop on Monday and check the nose of the starter against pictures in the corvette by numbers book. Thanks all for your help

Dave