The timing of the whole 67 starter discussion is rather eerie to me -because
when I backed my 67 Convertible out of the garage yesterday AM to go to the
Southern California Imperial Owners meeting, I turned the car off
momentarily while I closed the garage door, and when I got back in to drive
away, I got the dreaded "click-click". On about the 10th time, it finally
cranked and fired, but I didn't want to chance it, so my chore for today was
to pull the starter and rebuild it (I had determined by the old "screwdriver
across the terminals" trick that the problem was the starter, not the much
more common starter relay problem).
I used my starter wrench to get the top bolt, but had no further trouble
dropping the starter. I did have to move the transmission cooler lines out
of the way (the bracket which holds them is on the lower starter bolt), and
I had to position the steering so that the Pitmann arm was swung toward the
center of the car, but the starter fit out between the Pitmann arm and the
torsion bar, just forward of the left side downpipe. This car is totally
original, including exhaust pipe, so I don't know if another car would have
enough clearance if the exhaust system has been replaced, but at least this
single exhaust car gave no real trouble.
I rebuilt the starter (the solenoid's copper contacts were pretty nasty
looking, about 84,000 miles worth, I'd guess!), and the brushes were about
1/2 worn, but everything else just needed a good cleaning and a tiny bit of
high temp grease on a few moving parts. When I re-installed it, just for
giggles and because of the questions today, I used a standard box/open end
combination 5/8" Craftsman wrench on the top bolt - it can be done that way,
although you only get 1/16 of turn out of each bite with the wrench.
That's the report from here, anyway.
To the guy with the busted off main terminal: You can remove the remaining
nut, put the cable end under it and re-install it - it will wobble terribly
when the nut is off it, but if you are even slightly careful, it won't fall
into the starter. That way, you can use this starter until the next thing
fails. Be sure you don't turn the main terminal, as it only fits properly
the way it is already installed.
To the guy who talked about "pot metal" around the terminals: That stuff is
plastic, not pot metal, so don't be mean to it or get it hot!
Otherwise, good luck with your starter repairs. These starters are as
close to a bulletproof design as ever came down the pike, and this design
was used for many years, so any parts store will have a rebuilt one on the
shelf, if you don't like the idea of rebuilding one yourself.
Dick Benjamin
----- Original Message -----
From: "Greg Graham" <gregtx@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, April 06, 2003 5:33 PM
Subject: IML: ... more 67 starter puzzles.
>
> Well, lookie there... with a little patience, an open end wrench, and a
long
> string of words not suitable for the tender ears of children, the top bolt
> securing the starter in place came off! Woo Hoo! Turns out the problem
> with "clearance" for a socket on that bolt head was just that sheetmetal
> apron thingy that's in the way. The starter is off... but not out.
> Although the shop manual makes the "theoretical" removal of the starter
seem
> as easy as changing the air filter, it turns out that things are not quite
> that simple. The only way to remove that starter from a '67 with single
> exhaust is to remove the downpipe on the drivers side. Not really an
option
> right now because mine is additionally secured by a lovely layer of rust.
> Any attempt to disturb it will send it into fits and I fear that my
exhaust
> manifold will not come out of this unscathed... or at least I'll be
looking
> at major exhaust work.
>
> It's time to regroup. Put on your thinking caps. The only reason that I'm
> attempting to pull my starter in the first place is because the copper
bolt
> on the starter that the positive connection attaches to, has snapped off.
> The starter itself cranks wonderfully. I have the old starter flipped
> sideways and how have a head on view of, and great access to, the remains
of
> the snapped bolt. No threads exposed for a nut to grab onto. There is a
> nut on the remains of the bolt, but it is what is holding it to the
starter
> and any attempt to loosen that nut has started to disfigure the pot metal
in
> that area. If I try to take that nut off, a portion of the pot metal in
> that area will be ripped off along with the remains of the bolt, leaving a
> nice hole in the starter. I was willing to fork over the cash for a new
> starter even though the only thing wrong with the old starter was a
sheered
> off bolt. But I am not ready to replace the exhaust system just because
of
> said sheered off bolt. Dual exhaust would be awfully nice though... maybe
> after the bodywork is done. How can I reattach the positive connection
to
> that terminal? Yes, JB Weld is a gift from God, but it is not
electrically
> conductive and I don't think that it's the answer this time.
>
>
>
>
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