Trying to compression test my ‘87 302 and the original starter went out. What are everyone’s thoughts on the mini starters ? I never had any dealings with them.
I love them. I have 4 cars with mini starters. I think they are all Summit brand. I have installed a couple on others cars too. They draw less power and spin faster. Also, being smaller, they have more header clearance so less affected by heat.
Thanks for the reply. I think I’ll give it a try. Everything I’ve read pretty well has been good on them. I didn’t think about the extra clearance That’s a plus for sure and they’re considerably cheaper than the factory starter.
Just for reference, there are two different size small block Ford starters, One they list for an automatic and one they list for a stick. The catalogues for these have had mistakes for tears and everybody shares the same database. My stone stock 1965 Falcon 289 3 speed takes what the catalogue (or computer data) at orielys, autozone, and many others list as the automatic starter. The one they keep trying to give me for a stick won't fit. See below
Over the years a lot of us used the PMGR ones from DB Electrical including me I also have their one wire alternator. https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=ford+mini+starter&_sacat=6028&rt=nc&Brand=DB%20Electrical&_dcat=177699 You should probably call in your order rather than going through ebay and request the wiring kit to go with it there may not be a charge for it. You can see it installed here in a '53 and with the He dman headers You'll see two listed one is for stick shift one is for automatics.
when i got my car drivable about 17 years ago, i went through about 4 starters in a couple years time. People told me i needed a shim, but that didnt really work. I think the main problem was i was buying remanufactured starters, and under warranty they would give me another reman starter. I sold the car in 2012 so i'm not sure what starter is in it and if the problem was solved because i bought it back in 2019 and have not driven it since.
Ford switched to the mini starters around 1992. The PMGR type mini starters are basically replacement starters for those later model starters. There are also the more costly after market "racing" type like Powerhouse, MSD, etc that have a bit more cranking power for higher compression and they also have an adjustable mounting flange so you can "clock" the starter in a preferred orientation to clear headers.
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