can a 327 starter fit a 305

can a chevy 327 fit a chevy 305? i am having trouble with my vehicle. my starter went out and i have looked everywhere for one but have had no luck. well i took to have it rebuilt and found out that my starter is off a 327 not a 305. i have been told that my engine is a 305 and then have been told it is a 327 so i am just wondering? and how can i tell what engine i have?:frown:

Depends - if your 305 has the 14" flexplate (168 tooth), it should probably work fine.

You can tell without dropping the trans - look at how the mounting bolts for the starter line up - if they're inline with the rear flange of the engine (with a small and large bolt), the engine has a 12.5" (153 tooth) flexplate/flywheel. If the bolts are equal length and staggered (with the outside bolt near the edge of the flange, and the inside bolt about ~2" toward the front of the engine), then the engine has a 14" flexplate/flywheel.

well i bought a starter for a 305 and it wouldn't work on my vehicle. i am totally stumped cause this isn't the original motor out of my vehicle. i would really like to know what i have.:shakehead

Again, look above. There are two different starter arrangements for the 305. Which one you have depends on what size the flexplate/flywheel is.

I have the staggered bolt pattern on my starter. the in line bolt pattern would bolt up but there was a two finger gap between the flywheel and the shaft thing in the starter. my husband and i were very frustrated cause that was supposed to be a starter for a 305. when i had my starter housing fixed it bolted back up properly so that leaves me very confused.:shakehead

also my starter is damn near twice the size as that of a 305 starter.

ok i was wrong we have the inline bolt pattern but it can be staggered. i'm not totally sure about the starters. the one we have fits a 327 from the 1960s cause a 305 starter will not fit properly. there is a gap between the flywheel and the starter shaft.:shakehead

Take the numbers off your engine ( should be on a flat pad on the drivers side of engine at the back of the head right above the bell housing ) , go to http://chevymania.com/ and decode those numbers and find out exactly what engine you have . Then you will know which starter you will need .

Ok this is small block chevy starters 101. There 4 starters for them that i know with out getting into the 80's and up starters. U have 2 series, 8 and 10 mt. the 10 mt has a larger armature and field coil witch is higher torque and idenified by the connection of the field coil to the solenoid. most 8 mt starters are low torque and do not have a spacer between the solenoid and the field coil connection. the even bolt connection to the block is a small flywheel= flexplate starter. The offset bolt pattern starter is a large flywheel= flexplate. IF u have a small flywheel= Flexplate and u want to put on a 10mt offset starter, Then change out the nose of the starter. There all the same, but the nose determines the diameter of the flywheel. And what ever u do don't put a 8mt armature in a 10 mt field coil housing.. As far as what engine u have, Take the motor id and search for it on the internet. As far as the starter goes, rebuild the one out of it or replace it with the same bolt pattern. It sound's like u have a large flywheel= flexplate. Then u need an offset nose on your starter. Most small block chevy's have both off set and even bolt pattern's on the block, some only have the 1 pattern. what ever bolt pattern starter u took off, put the same pattern starter back on it.

Wahelmer, did you guys ever get your starter situation figured out? If not, let me know.