I know the correct answer is "buy a new starter now" But, I want to swap out the distributor to a one-wire, go for a smaller and higher output starter, and put in a kill switch at the tailend, all at the same time. I guess I "could" buy the starter now...except I just spent all my money on suspension parts. My starter spins freely without engaging with the flywheel every now and then. Maybe 1 out of 5 or 10 tries. I have so far been able to let it stop, and try again, and get it started. How long will this do this before it stops engaging completely, on average? I need to know how many "side jobs" I need to do and how quickly, so I can save up for the new electrical stuff.
There is no guesstimate as to how long any electrical part will last. Could go out tomorrow or it could last a year......It sound like the starter needs a "Bendix"...if you have another starter,"use it as a donor"
I guess I will stay close to home until I can afford to replace the starter, unless "Bendix" can be replaced...probably easier to swap the starter. I have only worked on GM type starters...never one with all the electrical stuff up on the fender.
I have had that happen to two starters. Neither of them ever quit engaging altogether, but occasionally I would have to hit the key 4 or 5 times before it would engage the flexplate. The first time (when I was in college = poor), I replaced the bendix, it was fairly inexpensive and not too terribly hard -- though I mistakenly took the whole starter body apart and nearly dropped the brushes out, at which point I would have scrapped it and bought a new one. A new(rebuilt) starter, don't cost a whole lot more and comes with a warranty, so the next time I just replaced the starter.
Why would you need a high output starter? I thought they were for CR's of like 12:1 or higher. Many of the Ford starters are pretty generic/interchangeable. I think some are 2 bolt, others may be 3 bolt. They are not that tough to rebuild. Seth
I was looking at one a while back that was smaller but still cranked out the torque. I need more space down there around the headers/starter/trans cooling lines, so the smallest thing I can get in there is what I want. Also want a one-wire alternator, and kill switch for the track. I recently put the battery in the trunk and left about 5 extra feet of the heavy 4-guage wire for when I do these. So I wanted to do them all at one time, and cut away all the extra wire.
