Had my starter fail on my 72 Olds Cutlass with a 350 and headers. My car has headers and when I bought it , did not have the original starter. It had a smaller body and was really tight removing it . My thoughts were there’s no way I can get a stock starter in there . As it turned out , the parts store couldn’t find a like starter in stock only the full-size unless I was willing to pay around 300 or more for a mini starter . I was not , so I bought the full-size replacement.

As I was doing my research I came across a post here with someone doing the same thing , replacing a starter on a 350 with headers . Someone recommended loosening the header bolts to get the starter in . Here is what worked for me -

loosen the header , it will give you clearance to get the full size starter in .

use a bottle or floor jack if you aren’t using a lift to support and raise the starter . Your arm and shoulder will tire easily . I used the bottle jack to support the starter as I wired it in , then for some reason thought I could just use my arm strength to hold it up while I started one of the bolts . This was futile and really quite silly tbh. I used the bottle jack to position the starter to get the inside bolt started . I made sure the bottle jack wasn’t in my way when I started the bolts .

Once I got the first bolt in , the second one went in quite easy . I used a nut driver to replace most of the bolts on the flywheel cover.

All in all not my favorite job to do. I mean who wants to work underneath the ground of their car if they don’t have to? I’m writing this in hopes of helping someone else . My advice is 1)’loosen headers if you have them . You don’t need to buy the pricey mini starter is you don’t have to . 2) use a bottle jack or floor jack. I found the bottle jack easier to use while working under the car. I could move it to line up the bolt holes when I needed it. Next up is look for some sort of heat shield to wrap around the starter to protect it .

 

That sounds like a smart method. I may need this someday.

Back in the 80s when I was a teenager with my 66 4-4-2 with a 425 and headers, I must have replaced my starter 4 or 5 times, including once at my girlfriend's house in 6 inches of snow, until I finally found a header wrap and starter shield that protected the full size starter. I am not even sure they made mini starters back then.

My method was to jack the car up as high as possible, balance and lift the starter with my knee while I used my free hands to install and tighten the bolts.

Oh to be 16, skinny and flexible again.

 

I’ll be 63 in August and wasn’t able to channel my 20 something self,lol. The use of the bottle jack and lifting it up high enough were the key to me. One thing I didn’t mention was my first attempt brought on a bad case of vertigo , so my car sat out in the drive for about a week before I could attempt it again.