OEM Starter for 1969 340

[Franko]

Does anybody know where I can buy a reman OEM starter for a 1969 Dart 340. I tried one from Autozone and looked at many pictures on the internet (Classic Industries etc) and all seem to have "ears" and bolts on the solenoid that hit the flange on my exhaust pipe where it bolts to the HP exhaust manifold. I was told that these starters might be 1970 and up.

I've read many posts about mini starters but I want to keep my engine factory appearing and I like the whine of the original starter.

I'm attaching a picture of my starter which has an armature flatspot and is not rebuildable. I am also attaching a picture of the "ears" starter.

Thanks.

 

[1969VADart]

Did you try Rock Auto?

 

[Franko]

I did try Rockauto and their starters were all eared.

 

[UOP]

Go back to Autozone (or Oreilly, Advanced, Napa, etc) and ask for an early-mid 90's Dakota starter. It's a gear reduction starter and MUCH smaller than the old type mopar starters.

 

[AJ/FormS]

If all your starter problem is a flat spotted armature,why can you not chuck it in a lathe and un-flat spot it. Ive lathe turned dozens of starters.Iv never seen a flat spotted armature among those.
Yeah the Mopar starter whine is somewhat endearing, right up until the engine fails to light as youre trying to leave a carshow.
You do realize that the starter is almost impossible to see from any angle except directly underneath it?
The mini starter is a vastly superior piece,in every way.
Another thought is to transfer the guts of one starter to the other.The armature can be swapped fairly easily.

 

[krazykuda]

Do you have the original starter? Maybe get it rebuilt?

I like Robert Walters starter & alternator in Redford, MI. I've been buying parts from him since the late 80's and haven't gotten a bad one yet... It's what I call a hole-in-the-wall ma & pa shop. They do a great job. It seems that you get the best service and quality from the small ma & pa shops now days....

He even came through when O'reilly's had 4 bad alternators in a row off their shelf. Robert Walters alt worked the first time!!!

He's about 45 minutes to an hour drive from you. Take 1-94 east to I-14 east, to I-96 east, to Telegraph north, to Grand River West, then it will be on the right about a 1/4 mile down...

He may have one, or be able to rebuild one for you if you have a core.

http://alternatorsdetroit.com/


Robert Walters Starters & Alternators
25456 Grand River
Redford Township, MI 48240

313-531-3336

 

[Franko]

Thanks guys for your advice. Here's the rest of the story:

I did take a reman starter with the ears and had the local starter rebuild shop try to swap out the armatures but they told me they were slightly different diamenters.

I ended up finding an NOS armature and took it back to the repair shop. They installed it and it still didn't work. So obviously it wasn't a flat spot or a bad armature. They gave up right then and there.

I took it apart and could see that the trouble was likely in the solenoid- the current wasn't being passed thru to the motor because of a worn out disk on the end of the copper bolt. I thought that that would have been the first thing they would have checked. I put too much faith in the expertise of that dump.

But I still want that original Mopar starter sound. So now I am trying to make the eared 1.8 kW starter fit. I tried to move the exhaust pipe over a little but it hits the torsion bar and the solenoid. So I am going to put some dents in the pipe.

What is the best way to do that? As is with a big hammer or get it red hot first.

I'm going to remember Robert Walters starters for future reference.

Thanks.