This morning I went to the 'speedshop' and found a heat shield for my starter. I had to remove the starter to get the shield on. (it just wraps around the starter and is made of fibreglass cloth) It just snowed a bit and is too sloppy to drive the truck around but I got the temp up to 180 and then tried some starts. No problem! It spins over rapidly and the engine fires up just like it does when it's cold. I'm pretty sure that dragging problem is solved for now. Those shields are not cheap but if they do the job that's OK. Thanks again. George