[youngrodder]

Well that test fire did NOT go as planned...During the start up the engine was starting to get fuel and sound like it wanted to start then made an awful sound. We shut it down to notice the starter was hanging and took part of the block with it....

After some research to see what happened apparently it is quite common for the starter to break/come loose (For the record my starter bolts were tight) at the inside small bolt and the torque of the motor turning over rips the starter to the outside which takes out the mounting tab off the block. I'm running a stock starter and stock flywheel. The stater has 2 bolts. One bolt is longer than the other. At the shorter bolt, the starter housing is thin. GM later changed the starters to 2 long bolts with an equal more substantial mounting block. GM trucks used this starter. When I ordered an OEM replacement from Summit it is the new design.

My block is Aluminum

My fabricator friend is going to swing over and weld the tab back on. The new starter is in route. This is common enough that a guy fabricates and sells a LS starter bridge ($370) to allow you to remount the starter with a broken mount.

With all of the LS builds going on I thought it would be good if I shared what happened to me and what I learned. Some guys I read about didn't even notice their starter mounting tab was broken until they looked. Obviously it had not ripped off yet.

All is good. It just shows that its not always sunshine and rainbows...

Marc