... not much!

I thought I would take a lesson from mecinoid and post my progress on my restoration project. I will from time to time post pics as well.

This past weekend I had to work both days so not much time to work on the truck. I guess restoring this thing is a process not an event. I washed the truck today. I noticed the cab floor is rotting out along the rocker panel pretty bad. I think it will need some custom fabrication in some parts as well as a bunch of cut off parts from Dan's '72.

I noticed that the starter seems to turn really slow after the truck has run for awhile and is hot. It is a nearly brand new starter. I am guessing my new headers are cooking it. I put a heat shield wrap around it this weekend.

What do you think about header wraps? I read they can really help keep the engine bay, cab and starter cooler. They aren't cheap, but neither are starters. I found a good price on some from Summit Racing.

Anyway, I'll post more as I get some pictures.

 

Mine does the same thing (starter) it always starts, but it is noticeably slowing after running it awhile ,and then stopping for a short period.

 

Before you spend the money...and remeberng your last post abuot your pinging, I'd take another look at the timing first...seems you might be a bit advanced which also causes the engnie to turn slow at spots.

Headers wrap would help if it's heat soak in the starter, but I never knew that Ford had a heatsoak issues.

You might try a couple simple things, clean your battery cables and the battery, as well as the starter posts/cable connection and make sure the ground surfaces (where the cable attaches and all other points of connect) are clean and shiny too.

 

I assume that your starter turns slow when it is hot, but turns normal when allowed to cool down. That is a common problem with the stock FEs - the factory put a tin shield between the starter and the exhaust on some of them, but that never lasted. It was discarded by the first guy to work on the starter.

They also use a different style of grease in the bushings when they rebuild the starter - you can't even get the good stuff nowdays. It was a special long-grain wheel bearing grease that looked like tar at room temperature - and was very stiff. But when things got hot it worked like a charm - long after that special white high temp grease ran out the end of the shaft!

So, yes, I would try some heat shielding between the starter and the exhaust. As to your headers, you can send them off and get them ceramic coated, which works much better then the heat wrap you can buy.

I agree with Mike, you need to look at your timing. If you are firing late a lot of that fire is dumped into your exhaust, which not only costs you power but also increases your heat load.

We had a Ford V8 in a farm truck. There was a hole in the floorboard, and if you watched it at night you could see the exhaust pipe slowly turn red and glow. I used it as a pryometer - when it got cherry red and bright I would back off the engine and let it cool a bit, a dull soft red meant I could put the hammer down and get a run at the next grade!

 

Oh Clint. you really ARE an old Montana hill billy aren't you?
Gotta love this guy...

 

***** B - I was thinking the same thing.
Fastmover - I'd take another approach. I'd fab up a heat shield out of alum. I'd also clean / replace the starter cables / solenoid. You might also just clean up the ignition switch while you are at it. That might take care of it. Good luck !!!

 

AJ, What would I fasten the fabricated aluminum heat shield to?

 

I am not AJ, but it seems that one end of the factory shield was attached to the last exhaust manifold bolt (it was a double-nutted stud - the first nut held the exhaust manifold, the second held the shield). The other end was bent around the exist pipe a ways under the cab and held on with a exhaust pipe clamp.

 

OOPS, sorry Clint. I got the names mixed up. I think I still have that original heat shield. I will take a look at it and see if I can modify it for my headers. I will also take a picture of how the header runs along the front of the starter then curves to the rear and then curves to the rear and runs along the bottom of the starter.

Thanks for the ideas.

 

Every curve is a place for heat to gather - and I would not use aluminum. It is better for spreading heat, but it is not strong enough to withstand the continued vibration of your engine. I fear it would soon crack where you bolted it.

 

Clint has a point. I haven't really had that problem with aluminum shields I've built as, I like to use thicker material. Aluminum is just easier to work with for me in thicker material. Steel I'd need a brake. With Aluminum I can generally get away with just a heavy vise, hammer, and body tools.

You might also just try some thin steel that you can form with basic hand tools to get it the way you want it. Perhaps if the factory one doesn't work / can't be modded you could find something closer at your local junkyard and take it from their as they generally have strengthening rib that reduces the thickness of the material yet still gives the assy the needed strength. Most likely you already know this however I figured I put it in writing.

We have also just used heat blanket around the starter and header pipes in the problem area to minimize heat. That is the quick solution. It's just not the pretty and more difficult to deal with for changing out if it get oil saturated down the road on older engines. With your newer motor it should be good for a couple of years before oil grease and grime become a problem. I generally reserve this trick for the track where we inspect the underneath quite often or on my RV where it is up high off the road and doesn't see a lot of dirt or oil.

I would expect you to wheel your truck so I think a shield would be the better choice.

 

Then there is always finding an abandon speed limit sign and cutting and bending it up for a shield.

On my CalTrans Dodge Power Wagon they did exactly that for floorboards

 

In a few months, I am going to replace my front fenders and hood. Once that is done, I could hack apart the old fenders to make a steel shield. I could sand them down, primer and paint it with high-temp paint and figure a place to bolt it on... or I could get header wraps.

I will keep an eye out for AJ's suggestion... a street sign.

 

If al else fails, see if they make a ministarter for your FE, those gear reduction ones have eliminated all the issues on GM's, in fact GM started putting them on in the early 90's to replace the other starters on some models...maybe all models as far as I know.

 

All GM uses is a rubberband they wind up as you drive. . . . . . . . and gear reduction starters are for mopor and other sick engines.


If all else fails we can find you a 12 horse Briggs and Stratton to use as a pony motor. All the grown up engines used them up to a few years' ago!