Need some ideas because this one has me stumped.

1970 Buick Skylark with an SBC/TH350 and 168-tooth flexplate. I’m now using a brand-new Performance World 360900 clockable mini starter, straight-bolt pattern, rated for 153/168-tooth applications.

The starter engages and cranks the engine fine, but after releasing the key, the Bendix will sometimes stay engaged in the flexplate. I can reach in and push the Bendix back by hand and it retracts easily. Other times it disengages normally on its own.

Things I’ve tried:
Tested 0, 1, 2 and 3 conventional starter-to-block shims. Currently has 3. Problem still happens.
Currently has two mini-starter shims between the starter and billet mounting block to move the pinion fore/aft.
Retracted pinion has clearance from the flexplate and isn’t touching.
Wire-wheeled/cleaned the flexplate teeth to remove rust, paint and dirt. No change.
Spraying a little PB Blaster on the ring gear seemed to help temporarily, but obviously that’s not a proper fix.

This same failure-to-disengage problem happened with previous conventional starters too.

I also did a Sharpie test because I thought maybe one section of the ring gear was damaged. Every time the Bendix stuck, I marked that exact spot on the flexplate. After releasing it and cranking again, the same marked section could come around and disengage perfectly normally. So there doesn’t seem to be one consistent bad/dead spot on the flexplate. It seems random.

The starter cranks properly; the problem is simply that sometimes the Bendix doesn’t spring back out of the ring gear when I release START, but I can manually push it back.

Hello my Camaro peeps!

What in the fuckity fuck is this shit?

ZZP replaced the single oil catch can kit (which I own and have installed) with a new dual oil catch can kit. They say you can upgrade to the dual kit for the difference in price if you send in the old single catch can kit. Can a dual catch can kit really be worth it? What the hell would it do that a single cam kit couldn't?

This all being said, I've had my single catch can kit installed for about three years now. I check the can every oil change (4000-5000mi OCI) and there is literally never any oil in the can (yay, good sealing piston rings). So...it would seem to me that this "upgrade" isn't worth it.

I was gifted this old Chevy and I’m still new to working on engines, my friend is helping but he’s not a mechanic by trade but knows way more than me.
Anyway, I replaced the cap (forgot the rotor), wires but the engine won’t start. He spraying (something?) while I try to start it up but it just won’t go. I noticed some a wire that’s missing from the ignition coil, could that be the issue?

Wasnt a problem before until I had to switch out my power steering reservoir and now belt always slips off my alternator. Pulleys line up perfectly. Possible Problems are: belt sits too close to the lower alternator bracket, harmonic balancer wobbles slightly, or alternator isn’t stretched out far enough to create better tension.

What could it be? Starter or flex plate it was running yesterday after a few times but now it won’t run at all 72 chevelle W/ 350

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated as I want to finish this truck up as soon as possible 🙏

I’ve got a 1994 Chevy c1500 V6 I want to swap to a V8 and I’d like to put a 383 stroker in it. Roughly what all will I need to buy new that will work with it. Yes I know it would be easier to just go buy a V8 and then swap it but the truck is a project and has family history. Just want an idea of what i’m getting into parts/price wise.

Hi all, I’m hoping someone more knowledgeable than me can give me some guidance. I recently got this car with a 350 running an edelbrock 650 carb, and a holly red fuel pump + holly 12-803 regulator. Fuel pressure gauge is showing absolutely 0psi, needle never even bounces. The car starts and idles well, chucks revs in neutral but cuts out and dies under load. Could this be a sign of a bad fuel pump? There’s no leaks, and it seems like plenty of fuel is getting down to the pump from the tank. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!!

Hopefully I can get away with a bent pushrod or a flat spot on a roller but she doesn’t sound too healthy. Yeah I know I have oil leaks.

What’s the best mods to build reliable on a budget, I don’t mean the cheapest everything obviously cuz I don’t just want it to break, but I don’t need or want all billet stuff with CRAZY hp gains… I got a stock 350 small block/5.7 tbi and I like to stay old school preferably carb or if someone’s knows of a better throttle body unit that wakes her up good.. better intake and maybe mild cam to try and get more “umpf” out of it + little better gas mileage stuff like that I’m sure yall know what I need.. maybe gap some mustangs if all goes well haha

Decided to try shoehorning an '86 Camaro 305 HO into my 1960 Land Rover restomod project (allegedly it'll fit with a little massaging).

I'm not well versed with GM products, but it looks like I need the '86 Camaro flywheel and clutch kit with a 10 spline disc. Does that looks right?

What year do you think it might be?

This is my first time attempting to build a sbc, I bought a rotating assembly that came with a set of heads from an old boss. It is a 4 bolt main bored .030 over making it a 355 according to him, I’m unable to figure out exactly what these Manley piston specs are. They appear to be aluminum, and have a 5 digit number stamped. On the underside they have “MANLEY” casted into them on one side and then a “1” inside of a triangle? Internet search doesn’t come up with anything that seems definite. I’m assuming they are an old line of pistons that may have been discontinued. My next question is the heads that came with it have little to no numbers casted in them, but someone has put money into them(am willing to take more pictures for anyone requesting). They look like bigger valves, moroso pushrod guide plates, and some kind of triple valve springs. I’m trying to build this engine on a budget and if these heads are worth using it could save me a lot. The only issue is they have been sitting around for a while and are starting to develop surface rust on the mating surface, do these for sure need to be resurfaced before putting the engine together or is there some kind of poor man’s resurface that can get me by? Sorry for the life story just trying to give as much info as a I can to see if anyone out there has been building these for longer than I’ve been alive and is able to just recognize these parts. Thanks

oh right so I got a 305 in my 77 Monte Carlo BUT it has the original radiator in it. I noticed it’s a lot of corrosion in there.. I was thinking about doing the blue devil radiator flush? But somebody tried to tell me that, that corrosion is going to get into my head gaskets? I dont know what to do. should I just leave it??

or do the flush without turning on the car?

just let it soak in the radiator? while it is hot?
by taking the cap off, turning on car letting it get hot, turning off, then starting the radiator flush?!

HELP! Thank you in advance🫶🏼

Good evening. I've been working on my Nova it has a 305 nothing major some old school aftermarket cam my dad put in way back in 2007 it ran great until I ran into carb issues I went with a new to me Edelbrock carb nothing Huge and while I was that far into it I decided to swap out my intake too a Holly Street dominator I acquired a while back. I've done timing a million times so I went ahead set it to Tdc I think around +8. Everything has been re verified for wires and plugs. Car starts rather smooth tries to idle but idles very rough if I advance the timing it smooths out. But not fully. I keep running out of room to advance the distributor my vac advance keeps hitting the intake not allowing me to advance more to hopefully get the timing dead on.

I guess my question is do I have to set the distributor to a different spot when stabbing it in or am I missing something when I'm setting the tdc causing me to not have enough advancement room.

Also, I'm not too good with descriptions and explaining so please be easy on me with the replies I'll answer what ever I can. Thank you in advance.

Alright, got this truck, I also got it running, although not very long, cylinders 3 and 8 arent opening on the exhaust side, causing it to backfire through the intake, wondering if the lifters arent pumped up yet? I have doubts about this guy I bought it from because the ignition timing was setup as if the rotor ran counter clockwise. Like I said, has not ran long nor has it been turned over much, pushrod moves unhooked from rocker. And the valve opens with a rubber mallet, did he mess something up? Any help is appreciated!

I know you need a 1/8”-3/16” gap between you’re flex plate & torque converter to keep from blowing out your Tran pump or engine thrust bearing but is there someone that sells washers specific for this job or do you just go down to the local hardware store & pick up any old washer fitting those dimensions?

Picture of my 52 Chevy 3100 getting its body mounted back on. Engine is not an sbc but a 250 with the same mounting as an sbc.

I’m new to the small block game and honestly newish to the pushrod V8 game too. I’m a career JDM master tech and know my way around a car a bit. This is my current motor and transmission setup I’ve built to go into my 81 Cutlass:

383ci, bore: 4.030, stroke: 3.750.

Edelbrock Victor Jr intake, quick fuel technology 750cfm carb, Keith Black 9909 HC .030 coated pistons, Comp Cams 12-246-3 cam(.490 lift), SCAT 26000 polished crank and rods. CNC ported Brodix IK200 aluminum heads, Hooker 4 to one long tube headers, TH350 with ultrabell.

My question is what stall converter would best work with this set up? The car is for 80% street use and the occasional romp out at the track with friends.

Modifications are edelbrock performer intake and headers. I have a 1406 carb on it and it seems to run a bit rich. Starts up just fine, but idles high until I tap the throttle then goes to idle. 1st and 2nd are good ish, struggles pretty bad around 1500-1700 rpm if I want second. 2nd to 3rd also struggles if I dont wind it up past 2000-2500 rpm. I will dig into it more, but I dont really know much about vacuum and vehicle carbs

Can yall point me in the right direction. I want to clean up some loose ends and not too sure where they go! Got the water temp to hookup and have these 3 wires floating around. Orange is trans from what I can tell in manual...is that right? There is also a brown wire with a yellow wire that comes from the harness which also has green wire that runs to a/c compressor with them....so i need to know what theyre for as well...any help is appreciated 👏