Thread: random stuff

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after 14 years of good service the starter of my pinto went out over the weekend .. got it towed home and got a new smaller hi torque version from orielly`s .. put it on and it worked fine except it would keep cranking for about 5 seconds after the engine was running ..i thought it was fitting too tight and i shimmed it many times with no improvement ..since i had built the car i have been running the original ford solenoid mounted on the firewall in conjunction with the chevy solenoid which mounts directly on the starter .. some wiring magic back then made it work just fine .. but this time around it would not work .. i had to do away with the hookup on the ford switch and hook directly onto the chevy starter .. one of those things that make you go " HHHMMMNN "

Personally, I was never in favor of wiring a Ford solenoid to power a Chevy starter. The solenoid on any GM starter is the weakest link. Rarely, if ever, does the field wiring on a GM starter short or open, but the brushes eventually wear out. Replacing brushes and installing a new solenoid is considerably cheaper than a new or rebuilt starter. And occasionally the bendix needs to be replaced. I'd venture to say that new bushes and a new solenoid would have brought your old starter back to life. The starter on my Vette is a combination of the original starter, a 400 starter, new brushes and a new solenoid.