1960 Starter case screws

[Donald H.]

I have a correct starter for my 1960; however, the two large screws on the outside of the case are phillips head and I believe they should be slot head screw. Can I take the screws out and replace without taking the starter apart. Sounds simple, but I do not know what these screws actually do and whether something inside the starter will drop loose if I take them out.

I attached a picture of the one that I am going to get the slot head screws from.

Thanks,

Don


Starter screw.jpg

[Dan D.]

Re: 1960 Starter case screws

Don, these are the screws that hold the field windings to the case, and they do not come out easily. During manufacture, I believe the fields are pressed up to the case and then the screws are installed. This keeps the fields perfectly round for the armature to rotate in. Others may know more than me on this, but my experience has been they are impossible to remove. Your not going to do this with a screwdriver, I know that.

-Dan-

[Donald H.]

Re: 1960 Starter case screws

Dan,

So if I understand, the screws keep the winding in place but since the winding is pressed in, I should be able to replace the screws and not cause any internal problem. That is if I can get the. Out.

Thanks,
Don

[Joe L.]

Re: 1960 Starter case screws

Dan,

So if I understand, the screws keep the winding in place but since the winding is pressed in, I should be able to replace the screws and not cause any internal problem. That is if I can get the. Out.

Thanks,
Don

Don-----


The screws hold the starter field coil SHOES. The shoes are what retains the field coil to the frame. You can remove and replace the screws without starter disassembly so long as you are careful not to displace the shoes. If the shoes are even slightly displaced the screw holes in the frame will not align with the tapped holes in the shoes. This should not be a problem unless you are extremely sloppy, though. However, as Dan reports, the screws are usually VERY difficult to remove. You may need an impact driver to do it.

[Donald H.]

Re: 1960 Starter case screws

Thanks Joe,

By the way, am I correct in assuming the screws with philips head are incorrect for a C1 started and should be slot head?

Don

[Dan D.]

Re: 1960 Starter case screws

Seeing how there is only the one screw holding each shoe in place, I would think that the assembly would no longer be aligned once the screw is removed.

I don't know where you are located, but there should be starter/generator rebuilding shops in your area. Assuming you can find one, I would see if they would do this service for you.

-Dan-

[Dan D.]

Re: 1960 Starter case screws

Don, I forgot to mention, the field coil shoes are not pressed into the case, but I believe the shoes are held in position with lots of pressure until the screws are installed, so the shoes are pulled tight to the frame. They have to exactly fit the contour of the frame and be perfectly round as well. They have to have clearance to the armature so it can rotate, but the clearance has to be very small as magnetism degrades very rapidly with air gap.

If this is incorrect, someone please clarify. Regardless, you will have fun trying to remove them.

-Dan-

[Domenic T.]

Re: 1960 Starter case screws

Donald,
I remember them being straight slot but don't take my word.

If your starter is correct (Stamped numbers) it may have had them replaced but the coils rarely go bad.

Rebuilt starters are mixed and matched and are hard to get back right as most of their parts are interchangable.

DOM

[Joe M.]

Re: 1960 Starter case screws

Donald, the slot screws are original. I would not attempt this at home. Find a starter/generator shop to do it for you. What is the date code on your starter? You must have an early car because I noticed the VIN plate on the door facing. I purchased an August 1959 starter for a December 1959 built car.

[Donald H.]

Re: 1960 Starter case screws

Donald, the slot screws are original. I would not attempt this at home. Find a starter/generator shop to do it for you. What is the date code on your starter? You must have an early car because I noticed the VIN plate on the door facing. I purchased an August 1959 starter for a December 1959 built car.

My car is a November 59 car. My starter is dated May 59, so I'm pushing the time frame, but I got it for a very good price. I was also able to find a correct solenoid (1119919) with an original Bakelite end that worked and cleaned up real nice. The only problem is that when the starter was rebuilt they used the Philip head screws. I may just live with it. Not sure what to point impact would be, but I doubt it would be much.

Don

[Joe M.]

Re: 1960 Starter case screws

Your car was built a month before my car. Since your VIN tag is mounted to the door frame, the change occurred between your build date and mine which was around December 16, 1959. What are the last 4 digits of your VIN number? Could you take a photo of the VIN plate? The judges are always trying to pin down when the changeover occurred and between our cars, it narrows the range significantly.

As far as deduct on the screws, it should be a "dot" item. When the same judging team find two "dot" items, they deduct 1 point. They place a dot beside a line item that is not worthy of a full point deduct, but the next dot item they will take one point. Two dots = 1 point.

[Dale C.]

Re: 1960 Starter case screws

I had the philips head screws removed out of a rebuilt 1107365 and replaced with the correct straight slotted head. It can be done as Joe said but it's not just a simple R&R. There is info on this change of head design in the "Corvette by the numbers" book by Colvin p. 498.
Dale

[Donald H.]

Re: 1960 Starter case screws

Your car was built a month before my car. Since your VIN tag is mounted to the door frame, the change occurred between your build date and mine which was around December 16, 1959. What are the last 4 digits of your VIN number? Could you take a photo of the VIN plate? The judges are always trying to pin down when the changeover occurred and between our cars, it narrows the range significantly.

As far as deduct on the screws, it should be a "dot" item. When the same judging team find two "dot" items, they deduct 1 point. They place a dot beside a line item that is not worthy of a full point deduct, but the next dot item they will take one point. Two dots = 1 point.

My VIN is 1322. My car apparently was built just before production stopped due to the steel strike and yours was one of the ones built right after. According to what I found out from others on the forum, the strike shut down production in St Louis on November 10th, and resumed on either December 10th or 14th.

i have a number of things that are specific to the 59s on my 60. I have the earlier hood that does not have the cut back for the tank top radiator. There is also a metal plate that connects the lower front nose to the bottom of the heater core support. The only way I found that was I ordered a replacement for a 60 and it would not fit the hole patters for the bolts. That's when I found out there was a slight difference between 59 and 60 versions. Of course any of this could be modifications from the past and not necessarily original to the car.

Don

[Joe L.]

Re: 1960 Starter case screws

Thanks Joe,

By the way, am I correct in assuming the screws with philips head are incorrect for a C1 started and should be slot head?

Don

Don-----


Yes, your screws should be slotted.

[Joe M.]

Re: 1960 Starter case screws

Donald, did you mean the radiator core support? I reused the steel plate after removing surface rust and repainting it, but used the new shims and spacer that came in the kit. My December 1959 built car does not have a notch cut out for top tank radiator. I believe it came with 1959 T-3 bulbs, but I couldn't convince the judges (2 point deduct).