Going junk yard hunting for mini starter

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I'll get right back with you here, but I'm pretty sure it could be any combination of 9/16, 5/8, 15 mm, 11/16, or 3/4 for the hold down bolts and 8-10 mm for the small wires and 9/16 on the leads. I would take a full set of small 1/4 inch drive and all the other sizes in gear wrenches and sockets to be safe.
 
bring the bag.....lots of stuff pops up that your not prepared for. Ie. exhaust head pipes, tiny metric power lug nuts..that 1.5 DIN pop out screen DVD dash player that you see in the smashed ricer next to your starter doner! I always pack a small hacksaw too. sometimes its easier to cut something than try and unbolt it (Magnum head pipes)
 
And don't forget my favorite, harvesting all the nuts, bolts, and screws I find lying all over.
 
My bag has lots of 'hidden' pockets that get filled with all the fasteners associated with parts and sometimes 'a few more' get in there. My yard has a nasty habit of painting the part you bought for warranty purposes. I usually waive that if I can. I tell him Im not going to return it so please dont mark it up.
 
My general rule of junkyard hunting is if I can carry my toolbox through without getting tired I probably didn't bring enough tools...
 
side cutters or "dykes" for the wires, saves you having to find the nuts and washers you dropped it the dirt!
 
Concord, CA, CT, or NC? In northern CA, most junkyards are now PickNPull (Schnitzer Steel). They usually have 2-wheel carts, though hard to find on half-off day. I put tools and supplies in plastic pool chemical buckets. Sometimes, I bring my own 2-wheel cart and bungie-tie the buckets. I usually go loaded for bear, with big tools for both SAE and metric tools. I would hate to run across say rare Kelsey-Hayes disk brakes on a 1964-72 Mopar and not have the tools to grab that stuff, or say rare Euro-lights or bumpers for my 1985 M-B. Even if I don't find what I need, enough stray nuts and bolts fall into my pockets to cover the $2 entry fee. Your tools can also help others. Once two clueless youth wanted to remove an O2 sensor (a bit cheap of them) and I just happened to have that special socket and 1/2" extenders and breaker bar. They might even have said "thank you" for that 30 sec assistance.

I suggest buying a set of ratcheting box wrenches, if you don't have. They save a lot of time, especially on new cars (metric) with tight spaces. I recall using one to remove a mini-starter. You likely also need a 1/2" socket extension to easily get at the top bolt, though a mini might have just enough room to swing a wrench. If rewiring your engine bay, I suggest also taking the battery cables. The BATT+ cable from a ~1990 Dodge truck was a bit long for my 1965 Dart, but perfect length for my C-body. The negative cable harness also has the alternator output cable (thicker for if you later up-amp your alternator), plus extra wires to ground the radiator support and other things that should have been grounded in the 1960's. The BATT- and ALT cables route across the water pump of a SB or BB, but perhaps no room for that on a slant.
 
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