Seeking opinion on modern bendex

Great Lakes Greg

Great Lakes Greg

Well-known member
I needed to replace several parts on my starter bendix, but have now decided to cut to the chase and buy the whole thing. There is a modern bendex unit offered in the catalogs. Any good, or Taiwan junk?
 
i have had one for 5 yrs . works great , no problems at all , ez install . money well spent ! ............. steve
 
Steve --

Could you comment further on the installation procedure.

I am preparing to replace mine and cannot find all the information I would like in the usual books.

Specifically -- What is involved in getting the old unit off the shaft?

Will it be obvious where to position the new unit on the shaft so as to insure that the gears mesh properly?

Thanks
 
Great Lakes Greg said:
I needed to replace several parts on my starter bendix, but have now decided to cut to the chase and buy the whole thing. There is a modern bendex unit offered in the catalogs. Any good, or Taiwan junk?
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Greg,
About four years ago replace stock with modern...on an original , not rebuilt(just cleaned up) starter. Using this 6volt starter on a 12volt system! Warmed up B engine. Great results for four years. Need any original bendix:cool:?
BTW...NO special tools used/needed!
 
I have never had one of the so called modern ones in my hands, but I have never had a problem with the original type for many years and many different cars. I would stick with the original, as long as you are not running 12volts on a 6volt starter. 12volts on a 6volt starter is hard on the bendix spring.

Peter, when removing a bendix, bend back the tabs locking the two bolts on the spring. Remove the bolts, and the entire assembly will slide off the starter shaft. It might need coaxing if on there a long time or if rusty.
 
I have the modern bendix, no problems. but I have heard that it does not fully engage on teh flywheel ring and should have a spacer between the starter case and the flywheel housing. Anyone know anything about this? Thanks
 
I installed the modern starter drive at the same time I changed to 12 volts and also installed the 12v field coils from Brattons. I believe they are about the same as 6v except they are wired in series instead of parallel. The old bendix would stick once in a while, especially if the battery was weak. Never had any trouble with the improvements in 4 or 5 years.
 
Mike V. Florida said:
Not trying to be a wise *** but how did you check? Would something like lamp black or Prussian blue on the gears be used to check?
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Mike, I measured the wear pattern on the old bendix on a surface plate with a height indicator (bendix extended). I then compared the new bendix to see if the wear pattern would all be on the teeth. I measured from a common point on both, I don't remember,but probably the set screw hole.

There is an easier way to do it on page 238 of the service bulletins, but i don't know if the two drives compare this way.
 
I used a modern bendex--- It did not engage fully and chipped the ring gear so the teeth were only 1/2 as wide as the should of been = a new ring gear this winter Dont do it!
 
We have been running 12 volt systems on a couple of cars with high compression heads using the original bendix with zero problems. We have around 30,000 miles on these two cars, so there isn't really a need to change out the bendix if the only reason is fear of it failing.
 
I should clarify. There is no problem using 12 volts with the original bendix, so long as the starter is a 12 volt starter. When using a 6 volt starter, with the original bendix, with a 12 volt battery, the bendix gets twice the kick it was designed for. The consequence has proven for many people to be broken bendix springs from over stress. That said, there are a lot of people out there that have done this for years with no problem. My bet is the bendix spring was/is a low usage item in those situations and just havent broken yet. Just be advised, if you run a 6volt starter on 12 volts, you are over stressing the part.
 
I've done a 12V conversion using the original Bendix and I've installed the modern Bendix both work fine. Pay your money and take your choice. FYI, a 6v starter will run about 3 years with 12v before the spring breaks!
 
Purchased the modern one from Mike's Afordable Parts about 5 years ago and no problems. Running a 6V starter and 12V system. Do know when you have a starter bendix lock up on the fly wheel can be a bear to get loose again. Did not want to have the problem of broken parts in the fly wheel housing. It is up to you, but I prefer the modern drive to not worry about a broken bolt in the fly wheel.
 
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