So, finally 428 all rebuilt and back in. Went to crank it over with the plugs out to get some oil through it and it would turn over very slowly. Battery was fine. Cables got warm (inidcating high current). Finally a small wisp of smoke came up from the starter.
Tried turning the engine over with a wrench. Seemed normal...about 40 ft-lbs needed to mantain rotation with plugs out. Feels the same as other times I had a fresh engine with new ring drag, seal drag, valve compression, etc. going on.
So, removed the starter. End of armature shaft at starter nose seemed short and below end bushing. Excessive shaft wobble. At first I thoght the busing was worn out, but now I think the armature shaft regressed below the bushing...never saw that before.
Anyway, it seems to explain slow cranking and high current.
So.....I'm not sure what starter it is, but it looks like a Delco 323-217, which should be the right one.
What kind of starter is everybody using, and is the problem I described common?
Was thinking of upgrading as I probably have to buy a new one.
I run a generic Azone special in most all my FE's. Even the race car and it's 12.5:1 compression! Still the same one for 10+ yrs now, I remember replacing at National Trails raceway one weekend back in 98. Granted, it doesn't get alot of heat, but still does the job fine.
Those fancy mini starters are okay, but I can't fathom paying $300 for a starter. Ouch. Then have it fail and have to wait for parts? or take it to Summit/Jegs for replacement.
Right....no mini-starters.....so I bought one from the local starter/alternator repair place. $102 Canadian (about $85 US). Was in fact mostly brand new.....at least the nose casting was, and not Ford either...er.....looked different and no Ford P/N on it.
Bolted right up....specs were a little difficult to interpret, but after converting N-m to Ft-lbs, and then using the flywheel teeth to starter teeth ratio for torque multiplication, I got about 185 ft-lbs at max power. Sounds right up there with some of the cheaper after-market starters, but less than the mini-ones.
Interesting, on the new starter, the nose hole for the shaft bushing was a blind hole, so bushing can't come out the tip of the nose. I think that was what happened to the old one....from the repeated impact of the starter drive gear hitting the inside of the nose on engagement.
Cranked engine over fine, but after several attempts, no oil pressure. Pulled distributor, inserted an old dist shaft hooked up to a 1/2" electric drill (set to Reverse) and spun the pump. After a few seconds, I struck oil!!! You can really feel the pump load down once the oil gets to it. No wonder the little split pin broke with my HV oil pump and Mallory dist that time (another fix, another story....LOL).
So, re-installed dist, cranked engine, oil pressure came right up. Never did that method before, very interesting. Now to install Sparkplugs and see if will run without going "kaboom". (LOL,.....I always worry for a while until the confidence builds up). Tomorrow.....
I find that trying to use the starter to prelube a fresh engine will usually end up eating the battery and starter before it every gets enough oil thru the engine. A drill and dummy shaft works wonders(as you see). Remember the dizzy runs at half speed of crankshaft, so it takes ALOT of rpm to get it pumping from dry.
Running 20w50 oil in my pickup I used to shear roll pins in my Mallory. I finally double pinned the gear and it's been many, many years of care free running. My race car doesn't have the same issue, as it only accelerates for short periods and driving on the street it gets accel/deccel constantly loading both sides of the pin(til it breaks).
In the past I've packed the oil pump with vaseline and it helped. I used assembly lube on all the bearings and cam lube on the cam, so I wasn't worried too much about cranking it to build up pressure, but no go. From now on, I'll use the drill/dist-shaft method.
I double pinned my Mallory dist as well. Not cross pinned (which would have been better, but not a lot to work with there). I enlarged the hole to a #21 (or maybe #22 drill bit....can't remember which) and put in a 5/32 split pin with a 3/32 split pin nested inside the larger pin (splits 180 deg aprt with one up and one down). All sizes to the best of memory from 10+ years ago. One of the problems with the Mallory is the gear is not a press fit to the shaft, so the gear can work the pin until it breaks.
Best mod I ever did was t get rid of the dual points and put in a Pertronix pick-up in the Mallory. Externally it looks the same cept for an extra wire for 12 VDC, but no more misfires not to mention no more keeping the points in like-new condition.
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