modern starter drives
- Thread starter Fordestes
- Start date
Brentwood Bob
Well-known member
Pm sent. I have Good OEM drives. Inspected for cracks. No returns.
From a rebuilder.
From a rebuilder.
nkaminar
Well-known member
Be careful when buying the modern drives. The quality of some are not very good and some are high quality. Buy one from Brentwood or a known good source. I had to buy a few to get the good quality one. I forgot where I bought them from so don't ask.
Note: The modern drives makes the starter harder to install and remove, but not impossible.
Note: The modern drives makes the starter harder to install and remove, but not impossible.
Bob Bidonde
Well-known member
Herb Concord Ca
Well-known member
Years a ago I got one that said "made in India" on the plastic bag, it was junk!!. The last one I bought, also a few years ago was from Bratton's, it was made in America. If you had one of each in your hands, you could see a very slight difference in the color (finish) of the metal housing.
rotorwrench
Well-known member
The later drives are generally a centrifugal acting gear with a one way sprag internal to the gear mechanism. One way sprags in a small gear application may have weak frames or form sprag fingers/rollers that can only take so much torque. Well built ones will last a long time if the car is in good tune since the start phase will be short. Get a combination of poor tune and lack of proper spark retard during starts and the unit will have a hard life. A poorly made one won't last long. A bad kick back will shatter a poorly made unit.
Our coupe had a modern starter bendix. The teeth on the ring gear were not being fully engaged and were worn beveled??? I put on a new ring gear and original style bendix when I replaced the clutch disk.
The modern bendix was loud and seemed violent. The original is quiet.
The modern bendix was loud and seemed violent. The original is quiet.
Synchro909
Well-known member
I agree, the modern drives do not fully engage the ring gear and destroy it too quickly for my liking. I had one till a couple of years ago and I don't know when it was made nor where. Maybe one of you guys will know whether it was US made or from some other foreign country by the fact that it was on the car when I bought it and I had owned that car for 10 years at the time. That means it had belonged to me about 12 years when it crapped out and was thrown away.
I avoid them like the plague.
Bob Bidonde
Well-known member
I have been running made in the USA modern starter drives for many years without issues. There is no way I will go back to using the original type Bendix starter drive because of its poor reliability, and the consequences of having bolts in the clutch housings of my Model A's. By the way, my A's have 12v electrical systems and their starter motors are stock.
Jim/GA
Well-known member
Why or how does the modern style bendix drive prevent you from hand cranking the engine to start it?
I don't really know how they work.
The modern drive will prevent you from HAVING to crank start your car.I have plenty of the original starter bendix drives some new old stock, I am running 12 volts and want to avoid a starter drive crash like i had on a 53 v-8, It happened between Okla and Arizona once when I was a teenager and I managed to fish out some of the pieces and get another starter ,I was told the new drives are the thing for 12 volts but they didn't spec. off shore or U.S Made . I can't find any U.S made drives, I was told the person who was making them quit and his children took over and stopped producing them as well, I can live with a drive failure on the "A" as long as it don't fall into the bell housing and lock up the engine so I can't hand crank it .thanks for your input.
Bob Bidonde,
Can you give an estimate of the number of miles you are driving the cars that have the modern bendix? Synchro and I both drive a lot of miles. Our car had the new bendix, it had not failed to start the car, but the flywheel was chewed badly. The modern bendix had about 17000 miles on it that we put on in 3 years time.
I've read where it would require approx. .150 thickness in shims to engage the teeth properly, and that the shaft has additional distance clearance for the gear to gain speed and momentum.
I'm gonna see if I can get my endoscope into the clutch housing far enough to see the old style bendix to any advantage. Otherwise, I'll probably remove the starter every 5000 miles or so to inspect. Could clean the flanges for good grounding at the same time.
Can you give an estimate of the number of miles you are driving the cars that have the modern bendix? Synchro and I both drive a lot of miles. Our car had the new bendix, it had not failed to start the car, but the flywheel was chewed badly. The modern bendix had about 17000 miles on it that we put on in 3 years time.
I've read where it would require approx. .150 thickness in shims to engage the teeth properly, and that the shaft has additional distance clearance for the gear to gain speed and momentum.
I'm gonna see if I can get my endoscope into the clutch housing far enough to see the old style bendix to any advantage. Otherwise, I'll probably remove the starter every 5000 miles or so to inspect. Could clean the flanges for good grounding at the same time.
Dino's A
Senior Member
Let me clarify, I would rather have a old style bendix break, and have to hand crank it to get home than to have a more modern style chew up my flywheel.
No thanks.
Jim/GA
Well-known member
Does the small gear of the modern bendix stay engaged with the ring gear all the time that the engine is running?
Or does it pull back away from the ring gear once the engine is running?
Where would these shims go? Where the starter motor mounts?
Y-Blockhead
Well-known member
Y-Blockhead
Well-known member
Looking at the picture of the wear pattern of a used modern Bendix held up to a new ring gear, please explain how you are not getting full engagement?
BTW, the ring gear is made with a bevel on one side...
That's BS. Thats over an eighth of a inch.
Attachments
Last edited:
nkaminar
Well-known member
To respond to Jim in Post #17. Not the modern drives that are available for the Model A, but some of the drives that are use in tractors will lock in the engaged position until the engine starts. That is to prevent disengagement in case the engine has a momentary fire on one cylinder but does not start. The only way to get the drive to disengage if it gets stuck is to place it on a spindle and spin it up using something like a wire wheel on a grinder. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTmxlDXL8hc If already mounted on the starter, you can just spin it up on the starter when out of the engine and push it to the disengaged position using something like a pickle fork.
Last edited: