The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Starter bellows

49 chevy 3100. looking for recommendations on a quality bellows. Mine always seem to tear at the bottom after about 3-4 months. I know Steele offers one at a premium price and I wonder if it's worth it. Thanks

Up until a few years ago, I would say without any doubt that Steele Rubber Products were far superior to the "off shore" products. Steele is a USA company, using quality rubber, made with quality extrusion and molding machines. However, sad to say, that they now have products made overseas. They claim that they "inspect" them to be sure they meet standards. You can't "inspect" the quality of the rubber. You have to test the composition. We don't know which are not made in their USA factory. The off shore rubber will not be the same quality as other USA Steele products. Only the form, fit and function will be near the same. The rubber quality is what controls the deterioration/strength/flexibility.

While the Steele Co. bellows is twice the price, it is probably better to buy their bellows because we are not talking about a lot of money. We can always inquire and find out if a particular part is made by Steele or supplied to Steele.

No one can ever know what goes into the "rubber" at a Chinese factory. Lots of garbage for sure. Recycled, cracks in 3 months trash. Not virgin latex/polymer.

Solved! Found a GM bellows on an auction site for a reasonable price. Hopefully it will last longer than the usual suspects.

If "original equipment" appearance isn't an issue, I'd be tempted to adapt a bellows from a rack & pinion steering system. They're made to flex tens of thousands of times- - - -more than a lifetime of engine starts.
Jerry

Pic of starter bellows that I purchased back in 2008 .

This will fit your 1949 3100 .

PIC

https://i.postimg.cc/J7pv1wCG/Starter-Bellows-NOS.jpg


George
'54 3600

What is a GM bellows? Hope you don't mean N.O.S.
We must be careful with the word N.O.S. It always seems exciting to find something never used. It is exciting for parts that are not made of, or contain, plastic or rubber. I would not recommend buying plastic or rubber parts that are already 30-70 years old for our trucks. Chances are that the rubber has lost all of it's properties and will fail in short order.
Parts with N.O.S. springs, gaskets, o-rings, seals and diaphragms would be on my no-no list also unless these would be rebuilt with actual new innards.

The above also applies to "used" parts of course.

Guess I will just have to see how it holds up. Thanks for all the inputs.

I guess if George bought NOS 11 years ago, there is hope. But he didn't say if it's still not split. I have a bunch of documentation about using old rubber. Not just my opinion. I dealt a lot with rubber in my career however. I warn about NOS from time to time. Hope you have good luck on the piece.

That’s a neat idea, Jerry.

Bartamos ,

I agree with you about 98% on old nos rubber parts .

You need to be highly selective when buying those old rubber parts .

I've only purchased what I consider to be near perfect survivor's .

I have ( 4 ) of these old old rod seals , I'm still on the first one.

The one's that I have stashed have all been massaged thoroughly with silicone rubber protective spray

and are in vacuum packed sealed bags for future use .

My truck has ( 0 ) zero made in china stuff / offshore parts .

I own a Chevrolet not a chinamobile .


George
'54 3600

George, You really did the right thing. Oxygen is the enemy. Sun is the enemy. Any light is the enemy. Using a non petroleum based conditioner is best if you do anything. Supposedly 303 is really good. Storing cold'ish is good.

thanks for the update on the parts you got years ago. Good news.