Is there such thing as upgrading your starter and should i do it?

[eskimomann209]

I have a 98 and the starter took a crap it was a high dollar mini started from summit. Not much of a warranty.
Had the big ole boat anchor starter from when my 73 was an SBC.
I didn’t hesitate to put that in the 98 and I gotta say, it sounds better than those mini starters. Something about the way the sound doesn’t impress me.
But what do I know. All I care about is getting where I’m going.

 

[shiftpro]

Just be careful it hasn't been dropped or whacked hard, the ceramic magnets in the newer high torque starters can't take it.
Back in the day when a big old starter froze up, we slid under the truck and knocked hell out of it to get it moving. It worked more times than not. Do the same with one of the new little guys and you'll turn it into a core.

Yet this is considered an upgrade?

 

[Ellie Niner]

I have a 98 and the starter took a crap it was a high dollar mini started from summit. Not much of a warranty.
Had the big ole boat anchor starter from when my 73 was an SBC.
I didn’t hesitate to put that in the 98 and I gotta say, it sounds better than those mini starters. Something about the way the sound doesn’t impress me.
But what do I know. All I care about is getting where I’m going.

I have one of those on my truck, and it's hung in there for the last 18 years or so. Still, I'm sorta wondering why I thought I needed this on a 9.5:1 305... guess priorities and mentality change over the years. I think I'm going to rebuild the stock one (still sitting in the same box I put it in when Bush was president) just so I can have my GM direct drive starter sound back. Not like it didn't have enough gerbils to turn over my engine in the first place.

 

[AuroraGirl]

I've thought about it since I posted this thread. I totally agree. I've thought the same thing, I love the way a classic old stater sounds.
Was in the Walmart parking lot the other day, and heard a truck start up. I could tell by the sound that it was a squarebody. Very unique. Also, I sold one of my 2 97 starters to a buddy. and the other I think I'm going to use on my suburban, because its 1992 starter is on it's way out.
This past few months I've grown the opinion of "don't fix what isn't broken".
Have too many things to do to be worring about things like that.
The old one worked great, never had an issue, so why change it. And if I ever upgrade, I'll spend a little extra and buy something brand new, maybe even a gear reduction. But I'll burn that bridge when I get to it.I

I should make a video of the kohler cranking makes quite the noise especially before i replaced it because the bendix wouldnt kick out reliably or stay during crank

 

[AuroraGirl]

THe PG260 starter came to be wonders especially in car applications.They werent doing too hot there. well the old ones were hot and they were doing that well as engine attempting to start hammering the starter back while it was spinning slowly. im guessing whatever they used wasnt quite cutting the chops at all because they were probably way less capable than the 10mt(5mt an example) . the pg 260 has done great on cars and trucks. however, long term love of it is gonna depend on where you got. new delphi/gm/delco etc units cost $ but they last
Rebuilt and reman is crapshoot like alt
Built by companies is usually good, but cost like new but isnt veyr fast turn around unless local

 

[SirRobyn0]

I have a 98 and the starter took a crap it was a high dollar mini started from summit. Not much of a warranty.
Had the big ole boat anchor starter from when my 73 was an SBC.
I didn’t hesitate to put that in the 98 and I gotta say, it sounds better than those mini starters. Something about the way the sound doesn’t impress me.
But what do I know. All I care about is getting where I’m going.

I almost said this in my other post, but those high dollar high performance starters, I won't put those in at the shop because there are just to many issues with them. Sometimes they don't mate well into the flywheel and make noise, other times try come back on hook, because they crapped out.

 

[bucket]

Sorry I goita hijack this for a second, when did the starters get smaller, and what tooth flywheel do they work on. I have to pull 1 header and the starter at the same time, its a PITA, and next time I'll buy 1 for a whatever year truck, for the clearance.

Without looking it up, I think '95 was the first year for trucks and vans. By '96 for sure. From the 4.3 to the 305, 350 and 454. This includes the 4.3 used in the S10 pickups and Astro vans. They have the staggered bolt pattern for use with the 168 tooth flywheel.

For RWD cars, it started with the LT1 models. They are similar to the truck/van starters, but have a straight bolt pattern and work with the 153 tooth flywheel.

Even the FWD folks have options. Also starting in '95 or so, they got a similar type of starter. The 60* and 90* V6's got their own version and they work on the earlier 60* and 90* V6's.

 

[AuroraGirl]

PG260 @bucket

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heres two shots of my park avenues starter. not the perfect ones

 

[77 K20]

I bought a GM performance starter 7 years ago and it is still working great. Has dual bolt pattern to work with different flex plate tooth counts.