Lakewood Scatter shield starter issue

[Justin Smith]

My car came with a Lakewood Scatter shield Bell housing. I don't know why the person who had the car before me decided to put one of these in the car for a street ride, unless he raced it at one point, who knows. Anyways, I had a starter go out on the car, So I purchased a Summit Racing Mini Starter for a 426 Hemi, people have wrote highly about these mini starters. I get the starter, bolted it exactly where the last one was bolted up and it does not reach the flywheel, it just sat there and spun. A little back round here, I do have the relocation kit for the starter for the Lakewood Bell. My flywheel is a 10.5". The top starter hole has 3 holes that I could use in the Bell housing. The top starter hole was originally in the furthest hole from the block. When I bolted the new starter in this location, it didn't reach the flywheel. So I moved it to the middle hole closer to the flywheel, it would engage, however, it barely grabbed the teeth on the flywheel. Then the starter bendix quit going into the flywheel all together. it'd spin, but not engage. I am going to have the starter checked at the local starter shop to make sure the internal parts are ok, could have received a faulty starter. I did an inspection of the teeth on the flywheel and it appeared the bendix was still just barely grabbing the teeth, because the tips of the teeth seemed to be slightly beat up, just the tips tho. the bendix gear on the starter looked fine, no damage at all. When I moved the starter to the middle hole in the bell, I took a bore scope through the clutch fork hole to look at how close the bendix would be to the flywheel before I started the car. It was already pretty close, there is no way the first hole in the bell housing closest to the block would work. Has anyone else had this kind of issue with a Lakewood Bell housing? I am not going to lie, this bell housing has been a thorn in my side from the very beginning.
Thanks Y'all,
Justin

 

[dadsbee]

They're a PITA, but your right foot will love you for ever!

 

[Justin Smith]

They're a PITA, but your right foot will love you for ever!

It almost a gamble it seems when you bolt up the starter, which starter holes did you use? did you have to use the relocation kit?

 

[dadsbee]

Same holes they've been in since 1978! Outer, cup to locate starter nose in outer location, but of course I have an 11" clutch/flywheel. Your nose cone locator should be bolted in the inner hole and I would suspect the starter flanges should be inner holes as well. No experience with a "hemi" starter on a BB/RB, just the good old OE.

 

[Justin Smith]

the RB and Hemi starters should be the same cause the blocks are identical. how many holes did you have for the top hole to choose from? I have 3 to choose from. Maybe I need to ditch the relocation piece for the bottom starter hole. maybe that is what is causing me an issue with how the starter is engaging into the flywheel. Do you have more pictures? thanks a bunch!

 

[dadsbee]

 

[Justin Smith]

So if you used the outer holes for an 11" flywheel, I reckon I'd need to try the top and bottom inner holes for a 10.5" and that should hopefully fix my issue. Hopefully.....

 

[Fran Blacker]

Have Lakewood shield 10.5" flywheel I used the inner hole and I have a mini starter no problem. dadsbee looks like an 11" flywheel.

 

[dadsbee]

So if you used the outer holes for an 11" flywheel, I reckon I'd need to try the top and bottom inner holes for a 10.5" and that should hopefully fix my issue. Hopefully.....

That is what I said in my 2nd reply!

 

[Justin Smith]

Have Lakewood shield 10.5" flywheel I used the inner hole and I have a mini starter no problem. dadsbee looks like an 11" flywheel.

Did you use the relocation pin on the bottom hole? any pictures of yours???

 

[Fran Blacker]

Don't what you mean by relocation hole. There a kit to hold the lower hole of starter in place. No pics. Piece to hold lower hole.

 

[Justin Smith]

Don't what you mean by relocation hole. There a kit to hold the lower hole of starter in place. No pics. Piece to hold lower hole.View attachment 966708

That's it. now I have a pretty dumb question: the top hole of the starter is larger than the bottom hole, is that for some flexibility for adjustment, or is it to take just a larger bolt?

 

[Fran Blacker]

The cup where the nose of the starter goes controls starter location. The bolt and that piece post #11 clamp starter in place.

 

[Fran Blacker]

My dumb question do you have the cup where starter nose fits into. See this link. https://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/threads/lakewood-scattershield-bolt-adaption-kit.150694/

 

[mrhemi]

the RB and Hemi starters should be the same cause the blocks are identical. how many holes did you have for the top hole to choose from? I have 3 to choose from. Maybe I need to ditch the relocation piece for the bottom starter hole. maybe that is what is causing me an issue with how the starter is engaging into the flywheel. Do you have more pictures? thanks a bunch!

Not sure which starter you got from Summit, but bear in mind that '66 -'69 Hemi starters are not the same as an RB. They used a direct drive starter with a 172 tooth flywheel with an 11" clutch. So if that is what you have it will not work with a 10.5" flywheel.

 

[Justin Smith]

My dumb question do you have the cup where starter nose fits into. See this link. https://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/threads/lakewood-scattershield-bolt-adaption-kit.150694/

I do have that piece, however, it was not in the bell housing when I got the car. it was in a box

 

[Justin Smith]

Not sure which starter you got from Summit, but bear in mind that '66 -'69 Hemi starters are not the same as an RB. They used a direct drive starter with a 172 tooth flywheel with an 11" clutch. So if that is what you have it will not work with a 10.5" flywheel.

My flywheel is a 130 tooth. I just ordered a Summit starter for a big block mopar, in the description it said it fit all RB blocks and 426 hemi with 130 tooth/143 tooth flywheel. I compared starter to what was originally on the car and it all looked the same as far as bendix gear and housing, only difference is the starter motor is self is a tad shorter.

 

[Justin Smith]

Update: I installed the nose cone in the bell housing in the inner hole, Bolted starter up with new bolts in the top center hole and with the relocation strap in the bottom hole. It is now working the way it should be. after starting it several times and running it, I took my bore scope and went through the clutch fork hole to look at the bendix gear and flywheel, all looks good. Thanks for the help y'all!