The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Mismatched starter and flywheel

Hi All
I have a 55 first series 3100 that I recently had the starter rebuilt and the shop owner said it was a 6 volt starter from a 51-52 car. My truck was converted to a 12 V system and I had the starter rebuilt after she would not turn over.

Upon inspection, the shop mentioned to me that many of the teeth on the flywheel are rounded a bit and that they filed many of these teeth back to a reasonable shape and got her running. he did mention that the best solution here was to replace the flywheel and or the gear ring, as both are readily available.

the starter still grinds about every 4th or 5th start and the sound is dreadful, so I am thinking about now spending the cash to replace the flywheel ( will have it done, no space to do this myself) and perhaps the clutch since it will be "free" labor wise.

My question is though, that I believe the flywheel is probably the original 139 tooth and while the starter works just fine on 12V, I am wondering if the starter would grind away a new flywheel quickly as well.

Upon looking closer at my setup, I noticed the bell housing is also not painted like the rest of the engine, so I am wondering if the bell housing was added/swapped separately to allow the starter I have to mate, as I was also thinking of just upgrading to a newer flywheel and actual 12V starter that are matched.

the truck is a 55 first series, 235 inline.

So - should will a new flywheel survive the starter OK? - or do I need to figure out a true swap of both flywheel and starter?

this is a recreational truck, and I will only be driving her at most 1500 miles a year and she will sit for at least 6 months while I wait out the Michigan winters

Any help would be appreciated - I am really worried about the grinding sound

Thanks to all who respond

Joe

Hy Joe Finkelstine, we are having this same discussion about flywheel pitches (tooth count) and starter drives elsewhere on this site. The flywheels tooth count 139 for six volt flywheels must be matched by a starter with a 14mm armature shaft which will have the correct pitch on the starter drive to match the flywheel. The higher tooth count on the twelve volt flywheel (sorry I can't remember the exact numbers 160 something) must be matched to a starter with a 12mm armature shaft that will have a starter drive with the correct pitch for that flywheel. A six volt starter will survive quite well operated on twelve volts, providing that the engine is maintained in a good state of tune and excessive cranking is not necessary. My only concern is that you mentioned the shop said the starter on your truck is from a car and should therefor have a solenoid on it for activation, I'm not sure how the solenoid will be effected by the twelve volts.Hope that clarifies.