So I just replaced my starter because somehow the housing on my starter cracked... The new starter came with shims in the box, but the old starter didn't have any on it. Am I supposed to use the shims or no?

 

you need to measure the gear mesh with the new starter........get a wire coat hanger.......you should just be able to put it between the peak and valley of the teeth when they are meshed (roughly .030) space.........you may need to use shims in different spots to achieve this...........never just assume always measure

 

This may be a dumb question, but how do you get the teeth "meshed" to be able to measure?

 

install the starter and pull the gear out with a scredriver

 

Pry out the pinion gear (or if possible just apply 12v to the solenoid, NOT the motor). Stick the paper clip/coat hanger into the crotch of one sprocket and line it up with the dick of the other sprocket.

 

interesting explination but it works hahahaha

 

I really like these back yard solutions to problems,...but there's a BIG difference between the size of a coat hanger and a paper clip,...which one is it guys,...I'm 2 days away from firing my new 383

 

see my above post..........i said .030.........thats far from a back yard solution

if u want to get accurate do it the way i did.........grab ur self a .029 welding rod and there ya go.........if not a coat hanger will work for the normal person with out a shop in their back yard.....