79 chevette starter

[skywalker58]

I have a 79 chevette 1.6 4door automatic
My bendix has gone bad in the starter.
Have tried to replace the starter with ones available
but they are all too long 11 1/2 inches tip to tip
The starter in my car is 10 3/4. Has anyone had this problem
The car only has 51000 orig miles

[formulaross]

Boy, shades of memory past! Years ago, the starter went bad in my 79 Chevette. Bought a replacement from Napa and installed it. First try, the starter engaged, jammed, wouldn't turn the engine, and wouldn't release. Jumped around like a madman trying to get the battery cable disconnected before things burned up. Took the starter back. They had already sent my old one out, so we couldn't compare what was different with the new one, so they gave me another starter. This time, it jammed again, but I was ready and didn't fry anything. Trouble seemed to be the gears were in tight mesh, centerline of starter gear too close to centerline of crankshaft. Always wondered if the new bendix had more teeth than the old starter. Anyway, my solution was to grind the starter housing pilot diameter down (the OD that locates in the big hole, drill out the bolt holes larger, and allow the starter to be moved away slightly from the flywheel starter gear. Worked until I got rid of the Chevette, many years later.