The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts GMC 451 STARTER

hi, guys
my gmc 451 starter motor has ,screwed up, its armature windings
its fitted with a 270 6cyl what other starters will fit
i.e is the starter on the 270 the same as the one off a 235 or 216
a friend of mine may have one off a 235 and i was wondering if it will fit
cheers,
,,mike,,

Hy spanners, as far as I know six volt starters interchange between Chev and GMC engines that have six volt flywheels and twelve volt starters interchange between Chev and GMC engines that have twelve volt flywheels, hope that helps. Please remember to include the year and size of your truck in your questions. I assume the three digits you mention are the last three digits on the tag of the starter, in future please post the whole number of the part you are asking about, if you know it. Is your starter tag one with a black background or a red background?

hi,3B
the full details i have are as follows,

1951 GMC 451
fitted with a 270 6cylinder
12volt electrics
the number of the plate on the starter is 1107-18 67792. i cant tell what colour the plate/label used to be its just bare metal now
the number of the armature is 820158

any help or information will be gratefully received
,,mike,,

Hy spanners, thanks for the additional information. Starter number 1107108 originally fit 100 through 400 series and is a six volt starter, starter number 1107418 originally fit 300 through 470 series and is a six volt starter. So you are looking for a six volt starter which should have a tag with a black background, hope that helps.

thanks 3B, that explains why the starter has committed suicide,
its on a 12volt truck .. well all the other electrics are 12 volt
what year did GMC change from 6v to 12v ?

its looking like it may have had the wrong starter fitted at some point .

spanners, it had the correct starter, but the truck was converted to 12V, GMC didn't go to 12V until 56 .... a 6V starter will work fine on 12V if you don't abuse it, many folks here keep the 6V starter when "upgrading" to 12V - don't grind away at it for extended periods, keep the engine well tuned so it starts easily and the 6V starter will spin it over fast for years .... the other thing you could do of course is put the truck back to 6V, if a 6V starter is all you can find, but what's more important than what engine it came from is what voltage, anything pre-56 GMC or pre-55 Chevy will be 6V, anything newer 12V, but the 2 voltages have a different tooth count gear so require different flywheels

Bill

thanks for the reply red58 thats basically what we used to do with the old ferguson tractors
for some reason i,d got it in my head that the bigger trucks went to 12volt around 1950
i know this staRTER HAS A 9 TOOTH PINION HOW MANY DOE,S A 12VOLT HAVE ?

Hy spanners, I believe the six volt and twelve volt starters both have nine tooth pinion gears however they are different pitches from one another. There is another way to tell six and twelve volt starters apart even without the tags, the six volt armature shaft is a larger diameter than the twelve volt armature shaft, hope that helps.