I have been lookin for a starter for my 401. I went to the local Napa auto parts, and talked to the man behind the counter about getting one. He typed some numbers into the computer and came up with 13 different starters? He ordered one, said it would have to be sent from the warehouse and it would be here in a week. I waited one week, went back to the parts store and picked up the starter. I got it home and compared it to the one I just removed from the car. The mounting holes on the replacement are completely different, they are vertical instead of horizontal, and the cone is much shorter. I took it back to the parts store, and said that it is incorrect. Before I order a new one, does anyone have a part # for the correct 401 starter? Are the 401 and 425 starters the same? Thanks for the assistance!
I carry BRAND NEW mini-starters for ALL "Nails". NONE of the part stores aftermarket rebuilt starters are correct. Or, send me yours & I will rebuild it. Cost will depend on what may be needed. Or, a guaranteed price of $319.00 + about $12.00 shipping in the 48 states for a new "Mini". Tom T.
As easy as it should seem, forget about buying over the counter replacement starters for these cars. Even if you did get the right one, the quality will be questionable. Have your original rebuilt either at a local competant shop or by sending to Telriv. Amazing the difference in quality when you can communicate directly with the person doing the work.
Neil,,, pard ,,, starters are easy to rebuild,,,, i just did mine and it cost about 35 bucks and I bought all the stuff at autozone.... the hardest part is putting in the new bushings.... most of the time all that is wrong with them is they need cleaning and new brushes and bushings....if you want to try , i will walk you thru it.....
I was going to try and rebuild it, but looking at the prices for the starters, I would only have to pay about 20 dollars more to get a reman starter. Now I believe I am just going to rebuild what I have. Doc, I will take any insight and knowledge you have. I will post in this thread when I am ready for the rebuild. Tom, I would love to go with a mini-starter, but would like to do this with a budget in mind.
You could just buy a cheap chevy starter, then replace the nose cone with yours.... There is really only 2 starters that I know of, dynaflow (1963 and older) and T-400/manual trans which is 1964-1966. There ya go! Otherwise you could go to a local starter/alternator rebuilders and they could do yours cheaply. Or better yet, get the mini starter! What a world of difference too!
Buicks came with 4 pole starters,,, others came with 2 pole ,,,, big difference in turning power.....
When I had my '63 starter rebuilt, the rebuilder put in some bigger windings to give it some more torque. He didn't charge me any more than a normal rebuild, just rebuilt it to "Hi - torque" specs. The bigger windings cured the hot start problems I was having in the middle of the summers. Used to have to douse the starter with cold water to "shrink" everything back so the armature would spin in it. One problem is that local rebuilders are getting harder to find. Too many inexpensive and cheap Chinese products on the market for a local guy to stay in business and make a living. Ed
Except for most low compression 2bbl. engines ALL 401/425 engines had Hi-Torque starters. The only way to make them any higher torque is to replace the two smaller field coils with two larger ones. Most rebuilders won't do this for free as it's a PIA. Many things will cause a starter to not crank when hot. Worn brushes, worn bushings which then cause the starter to "Drag" on the pole pieces or somehow get bound up causing a drag. Even when we were running 12.5 compression the original starter NEVER gave us a problem cranking hot.
Any time you rebuild a engine,,, you need to rebuild the starter,,,, a old , tired starter will not stand up to the increased turning effort of a new engine.... i have a firm rule, anytime I remove a starter , it gets rebuilt before it goes back in,, unless i have rebuilt it before.....
In hind sight, no wonder this guy didn't charge me any extra $$ for the "high torque" rebuild. That was a number of years ago, like when I was still a kid and was more gullible than I am now. LOL.
