I have an '89 GTA with the L98 350 thats needing a new starter due to the common "clicking" that occurs in our cars over time. I have Hedman shorties, flowmasters, crane cam and rockers and want to purchase this bad boy for my car tell me what u think?

http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/store...60097_-1_10689

Thanks

 

Are you sure it's not the battery?

 

longtubes....


U have a heat shield for the starter???

 

Don't buy it. I bought that starter for my 88 and fit like garbage. 4 hours of shimming and then when I finally got it shimmed. The soliend would not trigger the starter. Bad right out of the box. Now I have a $230 paper weight.

 

Not the battery....I just put in a new optima red top about a month and a half ago! A friend of mine whos very familiar with 350s as well as members of this forum have pointed me towards the starter going out! I dont have a heat shield for the starter but will purchase a new one along with my new starter! Awww so the msd starter is not reccomended? sorry to hear about your starter burnout that must really suck! im thinking twice about getting it now! any other reccomendations?

 

Ok! can u atleast tell me what I should look for in a "performance" starter??

 

Are you running LT's as well?

What should I look for in a starter that I know will fit L98's (compression, bolt pattern, etc.), anyone know?

thanks

 

I found this bad boy online as well and it caught my eye! anyone running one of these? heres the link: http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku

Thanks in advance!

 

?????

 

You dont need a "performance" starter. Get one for an LT1, like 93/94 years. Its gear reduction, lighter weight. Thats about as "performance" as you really need. And its a hell of alot cheaper then that.


I'll 2nd the starter shield with headers. I am going to need to find one soon for the LT1 starter

 

I would think with a LT1 starter, you wouldnt need a shield.

 

my starter went out the other night .. went to advance auto parts ..

and $69 later .. that starter turns that motor over really fast ..

dont know why you would want a fancy starter .. unless you have a huge supercharger and high compression pistons or somethin ..

 

Well ever since I wanted a GTA, I had plans to make mine a bad a** sleeper and performance is my no. 1 concern! My starter which is currently installed, developed the infamous "clicking" due to heatsoak; it wasnt as bad at first but now its gotten worse to where it has to cool down for about an hour and a half after only 30 min. of driving; I got tired of this starting issue and I decided its time for a new 'performance' starter. I happened to find this bad boy on the jc whitney website! sure its a little pricey but I wont have to worry about heat soak due to its built-in heat sink and its the mini type which his cool! if no one has ran it I'll gladly be the test rat ! heres the link:http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/P...001634/c-10101

 

get a regular started and a heat shield. You can send me the extra $120 if you want to get rid of it so bad!

 

lol .. i can use the extra money too ..

seriously .. theres no difference between a stock starter and one that is painted and has a "heat sink" .. that bitch is huggin the block and is gonna get hot either way and wear out eventually ..


but whatever floats you boat i guess .. i'd rather have a fiberglass hood .. or edelbrock intake manifold than a top of the line starter ..

 

i'm very happy with my lt1 starter, cranks my 10.2:1 c/r 305 over with no issues whatsoever.

 

 

Actually, with the headers, you might need a performance starter ("mini-starter"). I had to put one on my Monte 305 after frying the stock starter (too close to the headers). It's been about 5 years since I installed (with very little trouble -- maybe one or two shims) and the starter is still operating GREAT. I think I got a Powermaster from Summit and doubt if I paid more than $150 or so for it.

 

Makes sense huh?

It seems as if u are jumping down my throat here because I spent $250.00 on a starter; Im not trying to be mr. money here but the way I see it, if your willing to invest money into a car like I am for my '89 GTA which I plan to keep for a vey long time btw, then I don't see anything wrong with spending money to trick it out....even buying a fancy shmancy worry free starter that I know is going to last me a long time (probably more than 5 years)! I was going to go with a powermaster xs starter and a heat shield but for a few extra dollars more I got the "heat shield" built in! Anyone in favor of me purchasing the mg starter?

Take it ez! l8r!

 

I actually didn't mean to be "jumping down your throat" but, rather, confirming that you are doing the right thing by going with a mini-starter. Of I could have found a mini with a built in heat shield, I probably would have gone with that myself. And I agree, quality and cost both need to be considered for a long-term investment.

 

I meant the other guys Trustin; I actually think it makes perfect sense that if you have LT headers which are a performance add-on, you might as well get a 'performance' starter that can handle the a** kicking heat given off by the headers. If you say that the average starter lasts about 5 years (rough estimate)....then the one I purchased should last a little longer don't u think? Dont know about you but to me thats a good thing . Nice ride btw!

 

actually .. thats a good point ..

wasnt thinking about headers givin off more heat and closer to the starter ..

but wouldnt rapping the headers help against that .. ?? ..

and again ..its personal choice .. not sayin anyone is wrong w/ what they choose to do to THEIR car ..

i would put my money torwards somthing else than a starter .. but then again im on a budget ..

 

Wrapping the header does help with heat transfer also! that doesnt sound like a bad idea ! Yeah I would say its all about personal choice too; everyone has their limit on how much to spend as well as reason for purchasing a particular product for their car. You pretty much know already why I bought my mg starter !

 

Wouldn't it be cheaper and easier to just buy a Ford solenoid and mount it up and away from the headers to prevent it from messing up? Just a thought/suggestion

 

hey Phoenix --- thanks for the comment about my ride. I'm actually trying to sell the Monte so I can get into a 3rd gen. Know anyone interested in a fine 1984 Monte Carlo SS???

 

I actually know a few ppl who might be interested in it.....too bad its all the way up in arkansas though!

 

correct me if im wrong but doesnt that jc whitney one look like a ford style starter and not a gm im pretty sure the gm starter bolts go up not horizontal

 

Hey Phoenix --- be careful about calling Arkansas "UP"
We are actually directly EAST of you and are part of the good ole' South!!!
The Monte could be shipped if someone were REALLY interested.

 

Sorry bro didnt know it was gonna be such a big deal that I said "up" and not "down"...people say "up" in Arizona sometimes but I can care less...im not from here anyway! Whoa! "be careful"...strong words dont ya think??? it seems as if I can get shot just by saying "up in arkansas"! u were a cool dude until you decided to school me like if I didn't graduate from highschool! Dont know why u would ask me if I knew someone who was interested in your car when all you were going to do is test me on geography!! If you're going to respond with trash talking...save your fingers the trouble and post elsewhere b/c im trying to get some info here; not waste my time with nonsense ! Sorry if im sounding like a d*** here guys but I just dont appreciate bieng taught about states in a thread thats about a starter! Take it e z! l8r!

 

PM Sent

 

PM read and could care less ! Thread back to normal!

 

The holes on J.C. str. are there to allow the starter to be clocked i.e. position the solenoid for best clearance.
The click is caused by a heat soak problem made worse by LT headers. Heat equals resistance equals voltage drop. GM used to offer a heat shield for solenoid only. It was OEM on BB C3 vetts. MAD enterprises offers a kit to use the ford solenoid; fixs the problem permantly with out using an exotic starter which might be hard to find on Sun. night. Quick fact Ford fender mounted solenoids require only 5amps to work GM 10 to15 AMPS.
One last thng the LT-1 starter is a good idea it's smaller and lighter but more powerful than standard, because it uses rare earth magnets i.e hi strength and is completely interchangable. Just my 2cents.

 

hahah .. i got my new starter on sunday night at advanced auto ..

lol .. and pretty funny .. need ford parts to fix chevy's (ive owned atleast 8 fords in the past .. good cars / trucks ) ..

but i still think the camaro is better than a mustang .. sits lower and has a little more power .. stock that is ..

 

i believe he was just giving you a hard time bro...don't take it quite so personally.

 

Well the guy pm'd me and explained to me a little bit more on how the people (rebels as he referred to them) there dont like it when others get the state geographically incorrect! what kind of s*** is that?? Is this guy serious? and then he proceeds to tell me about his starter which I can give a rat's a** about! but whatever Im not going to stress on that; didnt take it personally, just thought that nonsense didnt belong in this thread!

Anyway, I got my starter today and will be installing it tomorrow...Ill post up on the results! L8r!

 

Exactly! I'm glad tho that I found out that an LT-1 starter would be better to use. When I finally get my '91 going, I'll definatly look into that starter!

 

If you didn't take it personally, you wouldn't have wasted so much time talking about it.

 

Like I said, that doesn't belong here bro and it was only 2 out of the 20+ posts on this thread that had to do with that guy so no time wasted!

 

Hows it goin? Sorry for the long delay guys a work related problem kept me from focusing on my GTA but thats all cleared up now! I already received my mean green starter about 2 weeks ago and was shocked at how tiny the thing is compared to the stock unit! I just got done unbolting and removing the old starter today which is a royal PITA ; I wonder if putting in the new starter will be a challenge also...hope not lol! I took a snap of the old and new starter side by side! Huge size difference check it out..

 

damn .. if i had the money i wouldnt mind puttin one on my 91 z28 .. lol .. ill get one when mine burns out next ..

 

I'll be installing it later on today if not tomorrow for sure! I'll let u know how it performs! L8R!

 

How things have changed!!!

 

Sorry to ask the following question,
Maybe I missed something in the post....

Which mini-starter did you finally buy?
(I couldn't really tell by the photo)

OOPS ! My bad !

I see it now. It's the "Mean Green"
from JC Whitney, right?

 

Lol yeah thats the one!

 

Just an update, I bolted the starter up today and it fit perfectly over the stock bolt holes and I didnt even have to use the shims that came with it! I did run into a small problem though ; the battery and purple wire dont have enough slack to reach the treminals since they're towards the back end of the unit so Im probably going to have to free up some slack somehow huh? or maybe I can rotate it to make it reach . Some advice would be appreciated! Ill see what I can do tomorrow..ill keep u posted! L8R!

 

I bought a CVR Mini Starter.. I had similar issues with the leads not reaching, but they CAN be "pulled" to get some slack so they reach. If you look on the engine crossmember there should be a plastic clip holding the plastic conduit tubing that covers the wires.. .. I simply pulled it through that clip a little more and it gave me the slack in the wiring that I needed.. (If that made sense!?)

Also, I mounted my starter upside down. It keeps the solenoid FAR away from the headers, the only down side being that the drain tube is now facing up.

 

Makes perfect sense man thanx for the info! Ill get to doing that later today! Hey were u as shocked as I was when u installed your mini starter and found how small the thing was compared to the stock 'football-size' one? lol! Ill post a pic of how mine fit too once the job is done! Take it e z!

 

I was under the car when the UPS guy turned up with the starter... I thought "What could this be?? The box is too small to be the starter motor I ordered?!" Anyway, yep it was the starter motor A lot lighter, and heaps smaller!

I havent finished my engine work yet to test it out.. should be done in a week or 2!

 

Cool!

 

The best way to cure the "clicking" starter issue is to use a 93-97 LT-1 starter. Then make an 8 guage jumper wire from the big post to the little post (where the purple wire would normally go). Then get a new Ford starter solenoid from like an '84 mustang (roughly $17.00 at O'rielley's). Mount the remote solenoid to the driverside inner frame rail. Wire it from the batt. to the remote solenoid's big left post along with the other fusuable link wires (the one's that would normally go to the big post on the starter itself). Then connect the purple solenoid wire to the middle-left post. The middle-right post labeled ( I ) is not used. Then run a 4 guage (battery cable thick) wire from the big right hand post on the remote solenoid to the big post on the starter itself and you are done.

I have Hooker 1 3/4" longtubes on both of my 1991 Z-28's and I have never had a starter clicking problem since!

Hope that helps.