ford big block starters getting chewed up

[chevyart]

my buddy has a 502 cu in big block(460 stroked) and he continually chews up starter pinion gears and flex plates;. dont know if he is shimming it right. is there any inherent problems with these motors doing this. before this problem he kept on having starters keep loosening up and just about falling out and also destroying his trannies. any advice on this problem thanks Art

[norm]

The starter locator plate that is between the block and trans didn't get left out did it?

That aligns the starter to the flexplate.

What kind of starters is he using? Hi perf ones like MSD and power master have shims in them to add/remove to set the drive depth.

I had a MSD that every once in a while would spin before engaging which is hard on things. Added a ground wire from starter bolt to the battery and that issue went away.

[Racer71]

Went through this with a sbf ex cup motor it would pull threads out of bellhousing, a start retard on the ignition straightened it out.

[cjperformance]

Fab a brace for the starter to get support off of the factory engine mount bolt holes.
And/or a start retard as mentioned.
Good quality starter amd grade 8 bolts are a must.

Oh yeah, If running a cute, lightweight battery they often fail to keep the ignition happy under starting load.

[Dave Koehler]

As noted the brace will help a lot.
Chebbies have the same issue when we throw away that pesky bracket the oem provided.
Depending on how the car is run, for key start the retard works.
Otherwise a 2 switch system where you spin it up then trigger the ignition. Spin it and hit it.

Oh yeah, if running a cute, light weight battery they often can't keep the ignition happy under starting load. This aggravates and magnifies everything