Hey guys,

I am looking for a good starter sheild or insulator for my '78 460. I talked to my mechanic and he suggested an alumunim shield. I have heard that those heat absorbing insulating covers are the way to go. Any direction on this? I hate having to wait until my motor cools a bit to get it started AND I don't want to fry my new starter!

 

The starter on my 77 460 got so hot that it actually melted the plastic off of the Bendix solenoid on the top of the starter. I had one of the jute backed aluminum foil insulating pads for car roofs and floorboards that I had purchased from J.C. Whitney. I cut a piece of it big enough to make two wraps around the starter and tied it in place with the aluminum foil placed outward with two pieces of #14 copper wire. (one at each end of the starter) I did this with the starter off of the vehicle. The bottom mounting bolt was a little hard to get in, so an open end wrench is needed.

This was about 50k ago and I never had problems with the starter again. Two weeks ago I had to take the starter off to get the transmission out, so I unwrapped the foil pad to look at the starter. It still looks brand new. so I wrapped it back up and retied it with the two pieces of wire.