BenH
Well-Known Member
I thought I would start a chat with a couple questions about the mini starters. Obviously they are supposed to be pretty straightforward and lots of people use them, but I have also seen a few stories of little problems and quirks. Some stories read that it is pretty painless on a B block but can sometimes be a handful on an RB.... not sure why, hoping to learn more.
The starter is the typical 90's style 360/5.9mag etc from the parts store. My car is a 65 satellite with a 440.
In my scenario, the nose of the gear housing (or whatever the correct name is) snapped off inside the bell housing. The starter could not fully seat against the surface in the trans, and it caused the snap. It did ~not~ interfere with the block, but it was very close so I just ground a little bit off as pictured.
After it broke, the starter could be reinstalled and tightened down fully flush and normal after the nose of the gear hosing snapped off, but now I am fairly sure the plunger is overextending (possible?) because after a few starts it would make an awful grind noise like bad alignment of the gears. Now I am going to need to buy another starter and do some grinding I guess.
Anyone had this specific problem? I want to confirm that the starter plunger/gear/etc can actually truly overextend and cause problems when this part is broken, I always assumed the copper plunger inside controlled that but the grinding noises make me think different. I have seen people have to grind for block clearance but not for fitting all the way in the 727.
I will test fit the new one in a spare 727 I have on the floor of the shop to see if it bottoms out like the last one did. Final note, the $30 terminal relocation part off eBay works very nice, you just need to grind a bit off the large terminal post, it sits very close to the block
Thanks
The starter is the typical 90's style 360/5.9mag etc from the parts store. My car is a 65 satellite with a 440.
In my scenario, the nose of the gear housing (or whatever the correct name is) snapped off inside the bell housing. The starter could not fully seat against the surface in the trans, and it caused the snap. It did ~not~ interfere with the block, but it was very close so I just ground a little bit off as pictured.
After it broke, the starter could be reinstalled and tightened down fully flush and normal after the nose of the gear hosing snapped off, but now I am fairly sure the plunger is overextending (possible?) because after a few starts it would make an awful grind noise like bad alignment of the gears. Now I am going to need to buy another starter and do some grinding I guess.
Anyone had this specific problem? I want to confirm that the starter plunger/gear/etc can actually truly overextend and cause problems when this part is broken, I always assumed the copper plunger inside controlled that but the grinding noises make me think different. I have seen people have to grind for block clearance but not for fitting all the way in the 727.
I will test fit the new one in a spare 727 I have on the floor of the shop to see if it bottoms out like the last one did. Final note, the $30 terminal relocation part off eBay works very nice, you just need to grind a bit off the large terminal post, it sits very close to the block
Thanks