starter removal

So today I go to start my caprice(1987 305) and I turn the key forward all the lights come on the MC solenoid ticks but the starter does not turn my engine over it doesnt do anything, I tried jumping my battery cause maybe it was low same thing, I also took a long socket extension and hit it with a hammer against the soleniod nothing.

Im under my car trying to take it out, and its pretty much killing me. I got the flywheel cover off, the 2 bolts to the starter and the nut that holds the wires on. but either the exhaust pipe has to move or my trans coller lines or this stupid bar that connects to my frame and thats it, Tried looseing it but its a bolt with a nut and theres on a hole in ym frame that wrench fits into but the nut is on a angle and is next to impossible to get off.

am I doing something wrong? I figured a starter would be easy.... my chilton manual is no help, its just like "you remove the starter"

Loosen the exhaust pipe. That's what I had to do with mine.

Are you sure it's the starter? It could actually be the switch or something in the column!

im pretty sure its the starter, ive had issues with it before, like it not engaing the flywheel all the way or not disengaging when i turn the key back(makes a really good grinding noise)

How can I check the column switch, i didnt know bout that.

That's an 18mm nut and bolt. I now have a Craftsman 18mm 1/2" socket and 18mm box-end wrench in my tool box, just so I can change the started on a b-body.

Well I managed to get the frame bar off, and the starter out. took it to autozone to test it, the solenoid was fine but the starter its self was bad. 46$ and and another 1 hour of my time to put it in and were good to go :icon16:

I had the same problem a few years back with these later (1977+) b bodies till I called my father-in-law, grumpy, who is a mechanic. His final answer was: bend the tranny lines out of the way. You only have to bend them slightly, have the inspection cover removed, and slide the starter back once you've removed both wires. And that works just fine. I did my 1991 the other week, no problem. If your tranny lines are rusty and break, it was time to replace them anyway. Goodyear makes rubber? transmission oil cooler hose which you can use to repair rusty sections if bending steel pipe isn't your strong suit.

BTW, you don't need to have a flaring kit and pipe bending tool to repair the steel pipe. Per grumpy, you can make connections with brass compression fittings, and to bend pipe, just get the appropriate size spring to slide over the pipe so it doesn't collapse. Actually, for larger radius bends you can carefully bend by hand using something solid like a pieve of wood as a template.