Been having trouble with a starter/solonoid for a '66 BB without the later added heat shield. Car has stock eshause manifolds. I am thinking of replacing the stock unit with one of the aftermarket high performance starters that are also much smaller and lighter. Any excperience with these and any recomendations? Originality is not an issue.
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Re: Big Block Starter
The heat shield is far cheaper and easier to install.
You can buy a lot of gas for the price of one of those starters.
Jeg's lists a Mallory for $444. Jeg's Hitachi mini-starters are $199. -
Re: Big Block Starter
I have a BB '69 and was having the same problems. I went the route that you're thinking and installed a GM High Performance starter. It started the car, but eventually chewed up my flywheel. My flywheel was compromised a little to begin with, but for some reason the starter was not compatible with my set up.
After this fiasco I called John Pirkle, got a beefed up original starter, replaced the flywheel, changed to an Optima battery, and the car starts effortlessly now hot or cold.Comment
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Re: Big Block Starter
If your starter is not original, and has been rebuilt, odds are the mounting surface has been "trued" or surfaced and so it now sets the starter closer to the block, which is deeper into the teeth on the flywheel. This can do two things: increase friction of the teeth against teeth and force the starter shaft to dig into the outer edge of the nose housing bushing.
This increases the drag and makes it harder to start the engine (especially when hot), and if left too long, will wear out the bushing and egg-shape the shaft hole in the nose housing, which leads to even more friction and drag.
The cure is to add starter shims to get the proper clearance on the teeth when engaged.
The proper restoration is to use a new nose housing that is the proper distance out from the block.
Check this before investign a few hundred in a specialized starter.Comment
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Re: Big Block Starter
Had a similiar problem on a BB Monte Carlo. Finally replaced the starter and the problem was solved. The windings of the starter were the problem. The Heat changed the characteristics......
My 67 BB Corvette does NOT have a heat shield and there is no problem with the original starter (rebuilt). It didn't come with a shield eitherComment
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Re: Big Block Starter
If your problems are related to a worn out starter,I would suggest just having it rebuilt by a quailty rebuilder. I am not trying to flame any one but we have a fleet of GM vans with V6's in them.We lost 2 starters in 2 different vans a day apart I went to our local auto parts store and they supplied me with a starter NO problems. When I lost the next starter the following day my regular guy did have one yet and had to use an auto zone one. That starter was in and out of the truck 4 different times with inn 3 weeks until I finally just went back to my regular auto parts store to get one. They reason I am telling you this is because all of the rebuilders are not equal.
I have a 1966 427 convertable and when I purchased the car it had a problem with hard starting when warm. the fellow who sold me the car explained all big blocks are this way and that you just have to let them cool down. What I found was the timing was way off. the battery cable was coroded and stiff, the battery terminals were dirty.I just corrected the problems and have not had a problem with it since
I have also built a custom 62 with a big block in it.I was limited in space and purchased one of the mini starters for it. I got it from summit and had to shim it to fit it properly .shims in the starter mating it to the block.I actuall had to shim higher on one side to rotate the starter away from the flywheel. and I had to shim the starter assembly front to back.
Both work fine now. I am not one to always say use the original just because its the original part ,but in this case i belive the original starter properly rebuilt is a better productComment
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Re: Big Block Starter
The key words here are "properly rebuilt".
Most rebuilt items for the discount stores are the cheapest rebuild around. Starters and alternators are not rebuilt normally to the spec for an application, but to a generic spec. This may be fine for your 4 door Bel Air with a 6 cylinder and no accessories, but you load up the car or have a higher performance engine, and these generic rebuilds do not last.
Also, many rebuilds today are less than spec, as the assumption is that they will work long enough to outlast how long you own the car. The old Midas Muffler Lifetime Muffler trick. But no one has learned the J.C. Penny's Lifetime Battery lesson that people tend to keep some cars longer.
If they save $.50 a starter and sell 10,000 of them, they can easily give away a few starters to replace the bad ones.Comment
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