Putting on new headers
Safety Car
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 3,758
Likes: 3
From: Surrey
Originally Posted by bobs77vet
well when you hit the positive battery lug on the starter with the headers or a wrench your question will be answered.
Forgot about the heat shield. I assumed, like you, that the starter is on a hot block so why worry about a heat shield? Not long after, I was stranded when the internals of the starter were thoroughly cooked (a big clue was the smoke pouring out of it
). Getting a heat shield on was a real fiddly job & prior to re-connecting the battery use an AVO, bits of card, mirrors, anything, to check that the live terminal (now hidden behind the shield) isn't actually touching the shield. Don't ask how I know this..... At the time I was in a panic to get it moving again (how exactly do you start an auto without a starter motor?!) as I didn't want the local morons to spot it ("'ere look, it's a Corvette, lets smash it up") so got a stock replacement. I wish I'd been able to wait for the delivery time & get a mini starter: not because of less problems with heat soak, etc (mine has been fine with the heat shield on) but because putting a heat shield on a mini starter would have been a lot easier. Not many jobs on the Vette scare me (excluding paintwork), but the thought of ever having to remove/replace the starter & shield in the future isn't a happy one!
