Mini starters

[Don Quixote]

See, mine starts hot but very hard. Funny that if I shut her down and start up right back up she is quick but if I let her sit for more than 10 minutes, she's a bear to start. Cold starts she does very well with the pull choke and now that I have it tuned right, I don't have to use the choke all the time anymore but a little until she gets her feet under her.

[Lattimer]

Originally Posted by Don Quixote

See, mine starts hot but very hard. Funny that if I shut her down and start up right back up she is quick but if I let her sit for more than 10 minutes, she's a bear to start. Cold starts she does very well with the pull choke and now that I have it tuned right, I don't have to use the choke all the time anymore but a little until she gets her feet under her.

Mine pops right off once it cranks. Electric choke works great, I can take right off with it cold and it won't stumble.

[Don Quixote]

I have known many 350s that will pop right off when cranked once warm but not mine. I haven't ruled out the starter heat-soaking as many will mention but there is only so much one can do logically when you are not even running headers. When I start her warm, she will crank and crank and it's like she says, "Nope, not doing it, nope...nope...nope...oh alright I'll do it already!"

[Shyguy]

Originally Posted by Don Quixote

I have known many 350s that will pop right off when cranked once warm but not mine. I haven't ruled out the starter heat-soaking as many will mention but there is only so much one can do logically when you are not even running headers. When I start her warm, she will crank and crank and it's like she says, "Nope, not doing it, nope...nope...nope...oh alright I'll do it already!"

Some people that are using Edelbrock carbs have this problem if they don't have a phenolic spacer under the carb.

[Lattimer]

Originally Posted by Don Quixote

I have known many 350s that will pop right off when cranked once warm but not mine. I haven't ruled out the starter heat-soaking as many will mention but there is only so much one can do logically when you are not even running headers. When I start her warm, she will crank and crank and it's like she says, "Nope, not doing it, nope...nope...nope...oh alright I'll do it already!"

What kind of carb do you have? I had that with my Edelbrock and I wound up putting a plastic spacer under it. Insulated the carb from the heat and it started so much better.

I run a street demon now and it still has to crank a little to start when warm. I'm going to add in a spacer when I swap the engine out.

[Don Quixote]

Yes I am running an Edelcrock and that makes sense. Since it is aluminum it would heat soak more readily than a steel one. I will certainly try that on for size.

Back to the starters, someone had said that divorcing the starter celenoid would have an effect but I don't know if he was being sarcastic.

[Lattimer]

Originally Posted by Don Quixote

Yes I am running an Edelcrock and that makes sense. Since it is aluminum it would heat soak more readily than a steel one. I will certainly try that on for size.

Back to the starters, someone had said that divorcing the starter celenoid would have an effect but I don't know if he was being sarcastic.

I actually just ordered a kit for that, I'm going to try that and the insulating wrap and see if it fixes my problem.

[soxplayer]

I think you will find that the key difference is the use of the TH400 or TH 350. I had a 64 Pontiac with a roto-hydramatic and a bell housing starter. We salvaged the engine, which was a 64 casting, and it had both holes for a block mount starter so we adapted it to a TH350. All 65 Pontiacs with automatics (except maybe a Tempest) used a TH400 and used a block mounted starter. Perhaps Pontiac was planning ahead on the change.

I think you will find the following to be true. If a vehicle has a turbo-hydramatic option available, you will have a block mounted starter. 1967 truck were still using Powerglides. You will also note that later Powerglides came with block mounted starters, but only after the TH XXX was offered as an option.

[Don Quixote]

I tend to stay away from the insulating wraps because in the case of starters, they will trap in the heat that they themselves produce and in the case of headers and manifolds, the same which opens the door for quicker corrosion.

One thing I did do with pieces and parts laying around is I went through and changed every ground on the truck to include grounding the engine to the frame with a 4ga cable directly off the 2ga lead going to the neg. battery terminal. This has actually fixed this problem to a degree and a slew of other problems as well.

[Don Quixote]

Soxplayer, that with the automatics is a handy little ninja nugget as where I don't deal with automatics, everyone I know does and they, thinking I am a sort of car guru, bring their schtuff to me to make all better and it wouldn't be bad to know better of what I am looking at. Much obliged.