The second issue I am having with my GS is cranking it. I have a regular 650 CCA 24 series battery in it. With the battery fully charged and the engine cold, it cranks fine. Once the engine is hot though, it won't crank it--as soon as it hit the compression on a cylinder, it stops turning. I do realize this is a brand new engine that will be tight for awhile, so I know that is some of the problem. I have 1 gauge battery cables on it, so that is not the issue. Do I need to go buy a 1000 cca 24 series battery for it? What kind of battery did they come with from the factory?
Sounds like you may have a problem with your starter. I installed a solnoid relocation kit for my starter. Just one thing to look at
I rebuilt the starter myself before I put the engine in the car. It will crank when it is hot if I hook up another car battery to it with jumper cables.
I've had similar problems on my '66...turned out to be the starter solenoid. Has something to do with them not being able to carry enough current when they are hot. Adding a Ford-style remote solenoid is one solution. You shoud be able to hide it out of sight for your show car. :bglasses: And you're probably using alot of initial advance in your distributor.....that will make the engine harder to turn over. I've heard of using a momentary push button switch, to ground out your points for a few seconds while initally cranking the starter. Engine will spin easier, then release the button, and it should fire right up. I'd try a new solenoid first....and no, it ain't easy :rant: been there, done that!
my 65 401 engine is brand new with slightly higher than stock compression due to decked block and shaved heads. my starter is not new or rebuilt and my cam is near stock with very little overlap. i use an optima battery and even hot my engine turns over easily. Bob
My mini-starter will solve a hot cranking problem. Best part is it can be installed with the manifolds or headers on the car. If you have a restored car you would be hard pressed to see it from the top.
starting problem My 65 has a heat shield between the exhaust manifold and the starter. Does your car have one? I had the same problem with a 70 stage that I had. That car left me stranded more that any that I ever had.
I am going to try a different battery this weekend--that is the easiest thing to try, and I can use the one that is in the car now in another car I have. I have 1 gauge battery cables on it, so they are adequate. Tom, how much are your gear drive starters? If a better battery and a little time on the engine (brand new and still tight) don't fix it, I think the different starter is the best option. I have a set of the GS club headers on the car. My initial timing is 2.5 degrees--the manual transmission cars use the same distributor on the 2-4's setup as the single 4bbl. ones. The only ones that used the 1111058 were the automatic cars with 2-4's
Brian i run 14 initial and have a recurved distributor that brings all the mechanical timing in pretty quick and i have no starting issues at all. are you sure you dont have a weak starter?
The starter does great when it is cold, but who knows. I rebuilt it myself when I put the engine in the car. New brushes, new bushings in the ends, and a new bendix in the gear on the end.
I hate the thought of taking that starter back off--the headers have to come off and I spent $300 having them Jet hot coated and I hate the thought of scaring them up trying to get them out--they barely come out when the engine is in the car. I put them on the engine before I set it in the frame, and that was before I put the body on.
Like you said, try a different battery first this weekend. If that doesn't do it i'd try a remote starter solinoid. they are less than 20 bucks and they work. I had to put on on with my 71 w/455. Its the cheapest route with out dropping anything else.
Brian, the starters are $299.00 plus shipping. To N.C. would be about $13.00. I have them in stock & ready to go. Let me know & I will get one off to you. A Postal Money Order made out to myself & mailed to: Tom Telesco C/O Classic & Muscle Automotive 465 Glenbrook Rd. Stamford, Ct. 06906-1820 The day payment arrives the starter will be in the mail.
I've got coated headers that I installed with the engine in place. I had to loosen the trans mount, and disconnect the motor mount, one side at a time and hoist the engine for clearance. It sure seems like back peddling when you have to do something like that. ou:
The problem went away once I figure out what the culprit was! I am in the process of re-assembling the whole car--had it completely apart doing a frame off. I just had the basic stuff on it to get it running/mobile. One of the key things I forgot to put on is the ground strap from the engine to the firewall. Without that, the voltage regulator doesn't function since the body is mounted on rubber mounts, and the regulator is mounted to the firewall. Once I installed the ground strap and the regulator started working so that the battery was charging, all of the starting problems went away!
