Cold Blue Posted November 30, 2018 Report Share Posted November 30, 2018 I rebuilt the starter for my 48 Plymouth. Installed it, and it works OK, but has problems. The set screw that anchors the bendix drive assembly to the armature shaft has some play in it. I can feel the slight amount of play in the bendix drive assembly when it is installed. And no amount of tightening the set screw that anchors the bendix drive assembly in place will remove the play. I think the keyway also has a minute amount of play in it. The armature shaft has a dead-end hole drilled in it for the set screw to go down into; the hole is slightly oval shaped from the set screw whacking against it's sides over 70 years of use. The set screw itself looks fine. I do not see a way to fix this issue other than to buy a new armature. And the old pinion assembly appears to have problems too; there is an internal spring that retracts the pinion gear from the flywheel that is quite weak. It is inside the pinion assembly and it's called the "meshing spring". The toothed gear will not retract itself if you manually turn it to it's fully extended position. And my shop manual says that you cannot disassemble the pinion assembly to replace the meshing spring. I think this, in conjunction with the "slop" in the bendix assembly set screw and keyway causes the starter to have a fairly loud "whack" when it initially engages. Am I right? I am guessing here...I want my car to start without any "noises" that shouldn't be there. I read a previous post from Don Coatney that said the 6 volt's starter increased speed tended to invite a "hard" start and contribute to that initial "whack" sound. I have looked and looked, and I cannot find a rebuilt or NOS bendix drive assembly that exactly matches mine. My shop manual says something that gives me some hope - It says "1952-1954 Plymouth cars are equipped with a Bendix follow-through drive assembly. This drive assembly can be installed on all 1946-1954 Plymouth cars." It shows a picture of the 1952-1954 pinion assembly which looks totally different than mine. It appears that I can swap out my pinion assembly for the later model one, with no problem, which would fix all my starter problems. Am I right? The good thing about the 1952-1954 pinion assembly is that it is readily available! BUT - am I fooling myself trying to fix the original starter? Should I just pitch it and get a 12 volt starter and be rid of my starting problems? If so, does anybody know which starter is a direct bolt-on replacement? Thanks so much!!!! Blue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgeb4ya Posted December 1, 2018 Report Share Posted December 1, 2018 I'd move on to another starter... the 52 -54 starters are a great improvement to the 1951 and older kick out too soon starters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plymouthy Adams Posted December 1, 2018 Report Share Posted December 1, 2018 the newer Bendix is supposed to retrofit to the earlier starter and eliminate the weak spring early disconnect Bendix... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cold Blue Posted December 1, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2018 Thanks Dodgeb4ya and Plymouthy! I thought that was the way to go. Just needed some assurance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Young Ed Posted December 1, 2018 Report Share Posted December 1, 2018 anyone got a source for that part? I'd like to upgrade my 48. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plymouthy Adams Posted December 1, 2018 Report Share Posted December 1, 2018 (edited) Per the reading I have done, these were introduced in 1952 as an upgrade and introduced across the line lineup and totally retro to the earlier models. NOTE....they had a gear count change in/about 1956 per many sources and usually denoted by 12 volt application.....the 12V starter drive as I understand it stayed 9 tooth but compared to the earlier 6V models as the tooth count dictated a gear tooth size difference.....they just a bit bigger gear by a few thousandths and will cause a bind....if you locate a seller with the later style and no original paper trail.........….you must measure the dimensions of the gear otherwise if you install mismatched components, you will either just lock up on engagement or destroy a starter ring gear.... most retailers cut this application for 12 volt to be the 1957 model....should have been the go to through end of flathead run, military and commercial flathead trucks to 1968, industrial application through 1972 Edited December 1, 2018 by Plymouthy Adams Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cold Blue Posted December 1, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2018 I was going to go to a 12 volt starter, but I found one of the "upgraded" bendix assemblies on Ebay. I ordered it yesterday; scheduled to get to me by this coming Thursday. The unit is a rebuilt bendix, not NOS. The price was $38.00 plus shipping; I thought that was quite reasonable. By the pics, it looks quite good..we will see. Unfortunately, it was the only one the seller had. Searching the WEB this morning, I could not find any more. Plymouthy - My Plymouth shop manual also says that this bendix was introduced in 1952 thru 1954, and is an upgrade to the previous bendix. My manual says "This drive can be installed on all 1946-1954 Plymouth cars". It says that the bendix drive I have was installed on 1946-1951 cars. I will continue looking for a source, Young Ed. When I get the part and install it I will let everyone know how it turns out....Blue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plymouthy Adams Posted December 1, 2018 Report Share Posted December 1, 2018 I bet your cutoff date on the manual was 1954 same as mine.....lol so application would only have been current to latest model covered by the book.... there was another on e-bay today....also a 57 up model listed....remember you folks that find a 12 volt starter motor, USE THE CORRECT Bendix per starter ring application... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9 foot box Posted December 2, 2018 Report Share Posted December 2, 2018 Would a 2K1089 starter drive, work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cold Blue Posted December 2, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2018 Don't know if it would..it has 9 teeth; but there may be a couple of issues with it. The original bendix drive anchors to the armature shaft with a set screw and keyway that goes into holes and recesses in the armature shaft. Is the set screw and keyway on a 2K1089 in the same location? Is the set screw and keyway the same size? The original bendix has a big old spring on the screw shaft assembly - the 2K may have a spring, but just shows a metal cylinder where the spring should be... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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