i have a 454 and my starter went out cuz i was trying to fire an engine with too much compression for the stock starter, while looking at aftermarket starters i noticed that the majority of the starters have inline bolts, and the ones on mine are stagered, are they interchangable?

Some of the ones w/ inline bolts have 2 sets one closer and one farther they should work. I used a vortec 454 starter on both my 12 to 1 and 10 to 1 bbcs and they have yet to have a problem.

welcome seansz28. the block holes/flywheel teeth count/starter hole patterns must match. some aftermarket starters with the 4 hole inline mounting arrangement will work with either block hole arrangement/flywheel tooth count design. but here's the basics on it: the 454 blocks should be the diagonal bolt pattern and 168 tooth flywheel. the flywheel/flexplates are counterweighted because they are externally balanced if it's a factory setup. some blocks have both inline holes and the extra hole that provides the diagonal one. check your block mount hole pattern first.

168 tooth flywheel tooth count uses the diagonal bolt pattern starter/block holes.
153 tooth flywheel tooth count uses the straight across bolt pattern.

Make sure you have shims to to set the depth.:bowtie: