part number help

[Mike G.]

i bought a 72 corvette to use as a driver. i knew when i bought it that it had some issues. the starter was bad ( not correct) so i had a 8400 rebuilt to install on the car. the starter will not fit because it has the wrong bell housing. it is a 3958405. what is that? the old starter was a 1109061 8m. is that a 78 starter? i have a correct bellhousing i can put on it but i dont know if i will or not. the easy fix would be to take the aluminum nose off the old starter and install it on the new starter. anyone see any issues with that. i dont know if the flywheel is correct or not but i know it will line up with the old starter nose. how do there cars get like this??? they do sell correct parts for these cars... right?

[Joe L.]

Re: part number help

i bought a 72 corvette to use as a driver. i knew when i bought it that it had some issues. the starter was bad ( not correct) so i had a 8400 rebuilt to install on the car. the starter will not fit because it has the wrong bell housing. it is a 3958405. what is that? the old starter was a 1109061 8m. is that a 78 starter? i have a correct bellhousing i can put on it but i dont know if i will or not. the easy fix would be to take the aluminum nose off the old starter and install it on the new starter. anyone see any issues with that. i dont know if the flywheel is correct or not but i know it will line up with the old starter nose. how do there cars get like this??? they do sell correct parts for these cars... right?

l
Mike-----


Yes, you can obtain correct parts, although you can't get the bellhosuingg from GM anymore. The correct bellhousing for your car is a GM casting #3899621. You need to use this with a 14" flywheel. The starter should have a cast iron nose, NOT aluminum. All 1972 Corvettes with manual transmission used the 3899621 bellhousing except the 25, or so, 1972 ZR-1's built.

I don't know what a GM #3858405 bellhousing is. However, a GM #3858403 is a bellhousing used on 1964-72 Chevrolet applications, including Corvette, that used a 12-3/4" flywheel. The only 1969-81 Corvettes that originally used this bellhousing were 1969 L-88 and 1970-72 ZR-1.

[Mike G.]

Re: part number help

thanks joe. why did the 4 speed cars use a cast iron nose? i have a 621 bellhousing but i dont think i will install it now. i probably have a correct flywheel somewhere i just have to find it. i have a 70 parts car i can take stuff off of. i want to drive this car so its not that big of a deal to me that some numbers are wrong. i put the aluminum nose on the rebuilt starter last night and hope to install it on the car tonight. will that work or will it cause me problems later?

[Joe L.]

Re: part number help

thanks joe. why did the 4 speed cars use a cast iron nose? i have a 621 bellhousing but i dont think i will install it now. i probably have a correct flywheel somewhere i just have to find it. i have a 70 parts car i can take stuff off of. i want to drive this car so its not that big of a deal to me that some numbers are wrong. i put the aluminum nose on the rebuilt starter last night and hope to install it on the car tonight. will that work or will it cause me problems later?

Mike-----

The aluminum nose starter WHICH USES A LONG AND A SHORT MOUNTING BOLT will work if the car has a 12-3/4" flywheel. The aluminum nose that uses 2 long bolts will not work for any manual trans application.

The cast iron nose is used for all manual transmission applications that use a 14" flywheel. It was also used for 68-69 Corvettes with THM-400.

1963-68 small block applications with manual transmission used a 12-3/4" flywheel and used the aluminum nose with one long and one short starter bolts.

[Mike G.]

Re: part number help

this was one long and one short. it was the starter that came on the car when i got it. i got it installed on the car and now the battery does not have enough juice to turn the motor over. soooooo i will go out and buy another battery.