My Ford F4 starter works fine but I would like to have a spare. I have seen brushes and a few bushings but no complete rebuilt 6v starter for this 6 cyl. Should I just order spare brushes and forget about it? Anyone have any ideas I would appreciate a response.

1948 F4 Ford Truck - a set on Flickr

 

NAPA has them. NAPA AUTO PARTS

AFAIK the 6 uses the same starter as the flat V8, and NAPA shows them to be the same. For some reason they offer a "premium" rebuilt for the V8 but not the 6?

If you have a good working spare (electrically OK), put in new bushings, turn the commutator, slap new brushes in, and put a good drive on it. Back in the day a trick was to turn the OD of the armature .020" or so because the armatures frequently drag on the field coils, slowing them down. A lot of times that was because the armature gets warped.

 

Welcome to the forum. What a beautiful F4. Thanks for the pictures. There are several of us on here who have the slightly larger trucks. I have a '49 F4 that I am doing some major refurbishing on. It will have the Ford script stake bed when finished and be very stock appearing. It is currently getting an engine transplant and more road friendly gears.
JMO, but I believe history would show the weak part of the starter would be the bendix and bendix spring. If the bearings (bushings) are tight, the commutator true, brushes good, the starter is good for a long time. This configuration starter holds up quite well, even when a vehicle is converted to 12V.
Don't forget, these old trucks can be pulled or pushed to start if the starter were to fail. Perhaps someone on here will have a starter to offer.

 

repair it, don't replace...

I have no personal myself experience with this one, but a number of folks here have said the ones MACs and Dennis Carpenter, etc sell are cheap chinese. Rebuild yours and it will last longer than you live, buy a repop and you'll replace it every 3-5 years, or so I've been told.

 

Welcome to FTE!

That, sir, is one handsome looking F4. Thanks for sharing the pics. The 226 I6 engine only shares a few parts with the big brother V8s. The wear parts that you might want to keep your eyes open for include the water pump and the thermostat housing - neither of which is reproduced. The water pump can be rebuilt through Rock Auto while the housing is NSO only.

Happy Motoring!

DW

 

FAD-11002-A .. Starter / Obsolete

ANTIQUE AUTO SUPPLY in Arlington TX shows ONE = 817-275-2381, but their webpage hasn't been updated since June 29, 2012.

 

Thank you all for the responses. If the 8 uses the same starter as the 6 that would certainly make it easier to find. Ill check Napa. My mechanic says he can rebuild the starter. I still just want one that can be installed right away during the rebuild. As I said, good news is the starter is fine for now - slow cranker, but I think all the 6v probably are. Starts easy so its not a problem.

 

If this is your first old Ford, you probably think it is cranking slow when it's actually cranking normally. You can almost count the rev's as they crank, but that's all it takes.

 

Battery cables used with 6V are much thicker than with 12V / Skinny 12V battery cables installed on 6V batteries is a no no.

 

The only difference is the number of teeth on the bendix - Check the one you have to make sure

 

Starters didn't come with the inertia type Bendix drives, sold by themselves.

Parts catalog sez: B1A-11350-A .. Starter Drive-10 tooth pinion-Use with FAD-11002-A starter (see post 6).

1948/51 226/254 I-6's & 239 / 1953 239 with 3 M/T & 3 M/T O/D