I just bought a JW Ultrabell for a BB 727 and installed it on the transmission. All went well, put it in the car, everything bolted up and the starter doesn't fully engage to the ultrabell. There's about 1/2" gap. I can't get the starter flush to the bellhousing.
Anyone run into this problem before and how do you solve it?

I'm using a mopar performance mini starter.

What does the ring gear to starter pinion relationship look like? Close to being correct? Not unusual to have to shim them. The bellhousing kits used to include shims. I had 1/2" worth of spacer in mine and an extension on the nose of the starter.

Never thought I'd have to shim this Ultrabell to a 727 transmission.
I believe you and I'm glad you brought that to my attention. Thankyou
I would have though shims for a BB mopar to a TH400 or a powerglide but not for a fixed ring gear attached to the converter for a BB 727. This really ticks me off. If this was the case I wouldn't have even bothered to do the swap.

I just cut the bellhousing off my powerglide and I too had issues getting the starter in. Luckily I had my big block ultrabell sitting there and all I had to do was file the starter snout with a flat file. 5-6 times out from under the car and it slide in nicely. I used 3 of the 5-6 provided shims to get the proper engagement. Not a big project.

I mocked my new 'bell onto the engine with the torque converter and starter BEFORE I ever mounted it on the tranny. I have read too many stories on here.

I had to file down the nose on my mini starter to get it to fit into the 'bell, so I'm glad I did a test fit.

Are you guys filing the front of the starter or the sides? How much needs to be filed?
Is the depth or the width the issue here?
I have TTI headers 1 piece and to get the starter out is rough.

If you look at several mopar starters you will notice a big difference in the way the nose is shaped. Mine required very little filing on the champher of the nose with a flat file but I went slowly because it locates the starter because the bolt holes are oversized. On my other adapter plate set-up I used to always go ahead and cut the nose off so I could change out the starters quickly if needed at the track. For this set-up I ran up to the Advance Auto website and ordered a starter for a 1995 Dodge truck and took advantage of the discounts and ran to the store to pick it up. Heck honestly I could have laid on my back under the car to do it but it was easier at 60 years old to climb out an file while sitting on a chair. Sometimes I wish I had a lift. LOL

To add to this I have the Headmen 1 7/8 headers on my small block and mine has LOTS of room.

any pics of the interference and the filing required ? what do the shims look like ? just multiples of the "dust cover" shims or something completely different ?

No picture and I took a quick look for my spare shims to take a picture but I'm pretty sure they are in my car trailer. The race car and quad are both in the trailer so its impossible to get to them. Pretty sure this is the part number on Summit so you may be able to see a picture of the shims on JW's website. They are a lot nicer than the shims I made years ago so I stick to these now.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/jpt-92472/applications/

Is this the type of 1/2" thick spacer some are using?
A friend asked me to make this, but then he changed parts so it is not being used.

If it lines up with the starter ring correctly as said
and the nose is all the way in.. I would make up a plate
as a spacer that supports the whole starter...not just the
bolt holes.. but make sure its engaging correctly into the
starter ring first thing... you could weld it to the housing
or just slip it on the starter.. either way would work

Bought this kit about 2 weeks ago from jegs using it to adapt a JW ULTRABELL to powerglide heres a pic of the shim pack and starter nose extension
I theres actually 5 shims in the pack
Hope this helps

That's all it is. I used their shim for a pattern and made thick spacers. Actually it was 2 spacers made from 1/4" 6061 since it was easier for me to work with than 1/2 thick material.

UPDATE..............SHIMS DO NOT WORK WITH 727 TORQUEFLITES!!!

What a waste of an hour to put starter up in with shims. Doesn't come close to spinning over the motor.
So it looks like I have to shave the sides of the starter I guess or is the nose of the starter too long? That's the million dollar question.

On mine the pocket ID was too small to fit the nose of an original Nippondenso mini starter. Had it machined larger and all was well, sat flush with the bellhousing no shims required

I had a feeling this was the issue. I really don't want to take this whole transmission out again.
How much was machined off in the pocket?

You could measure the snout on the starter then the hole in
the bell... you could drill it in place but will take a bit
of extra work.. you will need a drill bit for the size of
the snout... you will need a bar with that size hole asa
alignment tool... start drilling the hole then grind the end
of the bit off making it a bottoming bit.. then finish with
the bottoming bit.. all the time going through the alignment
bar so your square.. hope you got the idea
EDIT
But make DAMN SURE thats the issue.. and make sure the gap
is the amount of the snout.. minus the smaller area

good stuff to know, as i'm up for an A518 in my humpback project. that will require a JW bell, and i was aware of some grinding could be necessary on the block for mini starter fitment [depending on the starter chosen and/or the block], but i was unaware of possible bell issues and starter nose/shim items to look for. thanks for the heads up ! how much bell runout is to be expected, and how concentric is the bell id. to the pump od. ? is parallelism of the bell faces ok ? the only JW bell i have ever owned was for a 302 ford to powerglide conversion, and i sold off that stuff around 2001 or so and didn't check it because i had no intentions of ever doing anything with such a combo.