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78Eliminator
06-10-2002, 06:52 AM
So a while back I posted that my starter body shattered. Well, I bought a real expensive, gear reduction IHI starter. It looked real nice and compact and had a nice billet aluminum mounting bracket, but I could not get it to fit for the life of me. One side of the starter pushed against the oil pan, and the mounting bracket could not be fitted because of hull clearance problems. Ahhrrgghh!!!
I have not used my boat in over a month now and am getting pissed. I guess I'll just return this POS and get the stock replacement. Anyone else have any recommendations for a 78 Eliminator Daytona (pickle)?
Disappointed Justin

Cheyenne19
06-10-2002, 02:44 PM
Can you tell how much it hits the hull by? You can shim your motor mounts up and or remove some glass where it makes contact with the hull. These two things can get you a little room. I had to do these in my boat.

78Eliminator
06-12-2002, 07:00 AM
Originally posted by Cheyenne19:
Can you tell how much it hits the hull by? You can shim your motor mounts up and or remove some glass where it makes contact with the hull. These two things can get you a little room. I had to do these in my boat.
In short, no and no. One side hits the oversized oil pan, and the other side hits the hull. I will never chop my hull, no way! I think the starter I bought (an IMI) is more taylored for race cars than boats and did not account for a tight fit. I mean, if I had just a cm more space, it would work. Rex Marine said they would take it back so that's cool. I'm going to buy a delco gear reduction starter today and see if that works. Man, the boat has been sitting in my driveway more than anything. When do I get to actually enjoy it?
78

Cheyenne19
06-12-2002, 07:39 PM
I didn't mean for it to soundlike I did anything drastic on my boat. My starter just barely hit. I mean maybe only by 1/8 inch. So I shimmed my mount by 1/16 and sanded away a little glass, now I can run a sheet of paper under it, so I figure I have about .003" clearance. I just didn't want it to sit there and vibrate against the hull.

Costello
06-12-2002, 10:10 PM
Most of the mini starters are clockable. You should be able to rotate it to clear anything if it is a quality starter. Some are 360 degrees clockable, and some are only maybe 30 degrees but that is usually enough to get the clearance you need.

78Eliminator
06-13-2002, 07:11 AM
I went and got a delco gear reduction and it fits perfecly. I just have to cherry pick the motor up about 6" to install the longer bolts. I think the reason my last starter failed and cracked was because the last guy installed these little short bolts that hardly got a bite on the block threads. After a while it probably got displaced and destroyed itself. I'm all for doing the job right so up goes the engine and in goes the nice, long bolts that will actually hold in the starter. 25 ft pounds, right?
78Elim