My '69 427, 435 ran fine on Sunday and Monday it was as dead as a door ****. Upon trying to jump start it, the battery made funny noises. Took out the starter today and found: the red solinoid wire pinched and some strands broken, the armature had evidence of rubbing on the magnet coils, and the front bushing was worn oval shaped. I suspect the starter shaft flopped around upon trying to start, couldn't get good teeth engagement and rubbed internally. I suspect all this had something to do with my car not starting. Couldn't find any burn spots or other evidence of why the battery was drained over night.

I plan to put in a smaller high-torque starter and put my old one on the shelf. Anybody have any suggestions. In searching ebay, I see a GM factory style hi-torque starter designed for the 502 and 454's. It is a Delco-Remy unit with stock looking snout and staggered bolt pattern that I need. I have heard too may bad experiences with the multitude of mini off brand stuff.

Any comments? Ralph.

PS: a friend's son was coming over to have his high school senior picture taken in the car. It was rather embarrassing to have to push the car out into the driveway for the photo shoot, and then push it back in.

 

I dont think the 454/502 starters will work on a 427. The correct starter is the cast iron staggered nose unit. Take your old starter and have it rebuilt. They work great when fresh.

 

You can buy any aftermarket 168tooth count starter for your Vete if it has the original 11" clutch in it. Some of the aftermarket mini-starters don't have a "coil" connection like the factory Chevy starter so when you replace the starter, you have a "spare wire" left over. The Delco starter soleniod has a contact on it that bypases the resistor wire to the ignition coil while the starter is engaged to give a full 12VDC to the ignition coil while the starter is being used. I think CVR has a starter with the coil connection on it as I recall. Here is a starter for your Vette from my favorite speed shop (not really!) link: http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku

 

I am still running the original transistorized ignition system. Will any of these starters without a 'coil' wire screw anything up?

Thanks, Ralph.

 

If you need the extra post on solenoid (I dunno 'bout TI) ... but if you do ... any local starter/alternator shop worth its salt can replace a late model starter's sol cap w/ one having an extra post.

 

If you need the extra wire for "coil" you can just use a relay that is triggered by the purple wire. A good start is a fog lamp relay kit.
Ground to 1 side of the relay coil, Purple wire to the other.
Battery to the common (on a SPDT "Bosch" type relay), yellow wire to the normally open side.

 

Actually with a K-66 TI system, the voltage bypass dosen't figure in the starting picture. The K-66 system gets it's power from the fuse box and gives full voltage all the time (I'm pretty familiar with these systems, I just spent over $500 for my 1970 LT-1 K-66 "restoration".) DON'T EVER PULL A PLUG WIRE OFF WHILE THE MOTOR IS RUNNING WITH A K-66 TI, you can blow up the amplifier doing this instead ground the secondary wire from the distributor cap. The pulling of plug wires is a common "shade tree" mechanic trick to find a weak or missing cylinder on a motor but there is a NASTY SURPRISE when "Bubba" meets up with advanced 1960's technology on a Corvette. If your Vette is stock, the AC Delco rebuilds are very good quality replacements for a bad factory starter (unless it is the original, then I would take it to a good local electrical shop for a re-build.)

 

Now, I am really confused. I just pulled out my old '69 Chassis Service Manual, and the General Description introduction section to the TI system states:

"Two resistance wires are used in the circuit; one as a ballast between the coil negative terminal and ground, while the other resistance wire provides a voltage drop for the engine run circuit and is by-passed at cranking".

Also, why is the "extra" wire attached to the starter if it is not needed?

Thanks guys. Ralph.

PS: I see Jegs carries a "R" terminal diode kit for GM starters that may shed some light on the issue.

 

You are ABSOLUTELY CORRECT SIR! , I screwed up, I'm getting old (any SF Bay Area guys will recognise my Ray Talliefero imitation.) The 18GA pink wire is connected to the starter soleinoid bypass terminal for a full 12VDC at cranking. The motor with a modern battery will probably light off with no problem but, it might not be a bad idea to try to find a starter with a bypass terminal on the soleniod. The K-66 system is a "brute force" system that switches the incomming power to the ignition coil (not the way a modern transistor circuit would be designed) so starting voltage may be an issue with a 11:1 big block motor.