Hi Folks, Just a question. I bought a high torque starter for my 350 s/b. Of course it sat on a shelf for 2 years waiting for me to get off my happy flappy and start building my 1933 Nash hot rod. Just opened the box today and found, to my dismay, "NO INSTRUCTIONS". I was wounding if any of you have any installation advice? The year of the motor is 1978 out of a Camaro. The flex plate has 168 teeth. The starter came with 2 installation bolts, 2 shims, a round metal gasket and one 3 hole gasket for between the motor and mounting plate. Any help would be appreciated. Retired MSGT
Try Summit or Jegs. One of them has installation instructions for most of there stuff on line. Or try the manufacturers site. They usually do to. Power master does.
Have these starters on all my SBC's and only had problems with "an international brand" that zipped off 2 ring-gear teeth on my 383 SBC stroker in 65 Impala wagon.......and left me stranded & pissed.........went to same PowerMaster units used in 4 other rides, no problems since...... Proper shimming is a necessity on installation, so do pay attention...........
A word to the wise. Check the diameter of the bolts with a caliper. Now check the inside diameter of the holds in the starter motor. Many starter motors have bolt holes that are larger to except either 3/8" bolts or metric bolts and this leaves just enough play that with a high torque starter motor is just enough so that when you turn the key to start the engine and it torques over and that small amount of play cracks the outside bolt hole in the block. It happened to me and it took me a while to understand what was going. No matter how tight you torque down the bolts for the starter motor that little bit of play will let the starter motor move. After having a great deal of problems I finally was under the car when I had a friend turn the key and I watched the starter motor moving up and down. It had the extra bracket on the front of it and it still moved because of the hair line cracks in the outside bolt hole in the block. Jimbo
Or use bolts that are made for starters. You can buy them at your local parts store. They have special diameter shanks to keep the starter in position.
My OT, DD truck seems to go through one or two starters a year; it seems to be related more to the solenoids than anything else. I have no idea why. I thought it was the cheap Chiuanese parts they "rebuild" them with, so I started buying NOS stuff off that auction site we all know and love, and rebuild them myself. I've used heat shields and wraps also to no avail. They worked a little longer, but still go out within a year or so (???). So, I bought a gear reduction, permanent magnet style starter motor, just to try something different, and they seem to be lasting longer. However, the bolts that came with it are a METRIC thread (?????). I thought I'd run an SAE die over the threads, but all that did was BEND the bolts up, TWIST the metal they're made from up, and royally MESS UP the threads beyond use. The bolts must be made of Lipowtz's alloy* .So, I used the stock bolts, and all is well. No gaskets (???), no shims (???), no more headaches. *Lipowitz's alloy, AKA Wood's metal, Cerrobend, Bendalloy, Pewtalloy, MCP 158. It's a metal alloy with a melting point of 158 degrees!!! In my X-Ray career, we used it in making "radiation forming" aperatures or blocks, used to "focus" the radiation beam used in radiation therapy. It's actually melted in an ELECTRIC COFFEE POT being used as a CRUCIBLE, and poured into high density styro-foam molds. For us motorheads/gearheads, it can be poured into tubing, allowed to cool/set, then the tubing bent into shape; heat is then used to melt/evacuate the alloy (like using sand to bend tubing, only a whole lot easier). Even boiling water can be used to melt/evacuate the alloy! Just thought I'd throw in this last part as entertainment, but also to educate, as bending tubing without kinking it comes up fairly often here on the HAMB. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
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