Hot Rod Forum banner

New style starter, old sbc engine?

5K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  TurboS10 
#1 ·
I have an early 70's 350 that I just rebuilt and put in my '67 chevy C-10. The starter seemed to be grinding so I shimmed it a little and it seems fine now, but..
I also have a '94 chevy c1500 with a 350. The starter in that is a gear reduction starter. It sounds nicer never bogs never suffers from hot start syndrome and works well, even after 200K miles.
Is the starter in my 94 compatible with my older 350, or is there a gear reduction type starter for my older engine?
Thanks, Andy
 
#2 ·
sure they make gear reduction starters for older applications, but, I can give you a tip here so you likely won`t have to buy a high dollar reduction starter. I have a 86 olds cutlass supreme, I dropped a 350 sbc in it, it ate a total of 8 starters. so, this last time when I had the engine out, I decided to change all that. I have headers on my car, and one of the pipes rides on the starter and it still has no effect, here`s what I did. where the brake line holder bolts into the frame, I ran a 4 gauge ground from there to the block, and from the block to the battery, a 12 gauge wire from the battery to the fender, a 12 gauge wire from the frame to the firewall, and from the firewall to the intake. this solved all my electrical problems, the car hasn`t had a hot start problem since. the starter is a cheapy advance auto parts job, and it`s been on there for a long time now, I also added a starter brace that bolts on the end of the starter to the block. I have no heat shield on my starter or headers and no matter the season, even when it`s 98 degree`s with a 100% humidity, it starts when I hit the key and it`s not slow, it spins it over like it should without any problems at all. another thing to check is make sure the advance in your distributor isn`t sticking open or froze open. I`ve also did this same trick on many others vehicles, every time it solves all the problems, in most cases, the grounds get completely overlooked or neglected, I have a friend who added a $200 reduction starter to his car, and within 2 months it was cooked, all due to poor grounds. good luck.
 
#3 ·
I had this same idea and came up short. I talked to a guy at NAPA who had tryed the same thing. He said that the new style starters have a different tooth pitch, pattern or something. I did however find that the local starter shop built starters from the newer style that would work for the old chevys. I am sure it is just a matter of a gear change, but cant swear by it. I only paid $80 for a rebuilt gear reduction. I would check around with the rebuild shops.

Chris
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top