Header Starter

sport71 · Post by **sport71** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 10:17 pm

Will I have problems with the stock starter on my 390's headers?

fordman · Post by **fordman** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 10:56 pm

sooner o rlater it will overheat the starter yes. header wrap or starter shield is about the only way to go.

sport71 · Post by **sport71** » Sun Mar 29, 2009 12:17 am

If the size had anything to do with it, because I know that there's a mini starter. What are those ones used for?

fordman · Post by **fordman** » Sun Mar 29, 2009 12:23 am

i forgot about that. i think some guys are buying the mini starters to also get around the headers making the starters overheat and quit prematurly.

JMcTurnan · Post by **JMcTurnan** » Sun Mar 29, 2009 12:58 am

Well if you don't have the cast iron headers, the starter will burn out alot because the heat doesn't dissipate off most aftermarket non cast headers.

390F100 · Post by **390F100** » Sun Mar 29, 2009 2:22 am

All I know is that it is one heck of a huge pain in the rear end to replace, it's not difficult it just sucks cause the header has to come off and in my case the engine has to be unbolted, lifted up, header removed, and then and only then will the starter be able to be removed. I have a 390 with a bendix box and headers, ya for everyone that said clearance is an issue.....you were right, but I did manage to make it fit.

390

sport71 · Post by **sport71** » Sun Mar 29, 2009 9:56 am

Thanks fordman, I sure don't want for it to over heat, and get stuck out there.

JMcturnan, I got the Headman Elietes ceramic coated ones. Except they didn't mention anything about that? Oh well.

390F100, Thanks for the input, but do you think I would have the same probem as you did if I put the mini starter on mine?

JMcTurnan · Post by **JMcTurnan** » Sun Mar 29, 2009 11:45 am

Mini starter should work fine, ceramic dissapate heat a little better, but nothing is as good as the cast.

michael69 · Post by **michael69** » Sun Mar 29, 2009 6:09 pm

Before I pulled the 360 out of my truck it had hedders when I bought it 7yrs ago drove it daily and never had to replace mine and it was a regular starter.Got the truck from my dad and he owned it for 2 years and no telling how long it had been on it before that with hedders. So it really depends on quilty of starter I think.

mad2smile · Post by **mad2smile** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 7:14 pm

i put Dynomax headers on my 360 about a year and a half ago. i wrapped the headers to try to avoid issues. 5 months later in the dead of winter while i was doing snow removal, my starter went out. i was about an hour away from home, so i had to catch a ride back, then borrow a friend and a trailer to get my truck back home, then borrow my neighbor's heated garage to work on my truck in.

that was a huge pain in the ass. what wouldve been a 10 minute swap with manifolds turned into a several hour long ordeal with headers. finally got it all apart. i installed the new starter and a starter blanket, then put it all back together. i had double-protection (blanket AND header wrap).

fast forward 8 months. starter went bye-bye again. i laid on my back outside in the dirt for another 4 hours while i replaced this one.

5 months later, i replaced my engine. the starter had started being flaky once again when i did the swap. when i took everything on the old engine apart, i saw some fairly significant damage to both the flexplate and the starter. not sure if heat was to blame for any of my starter failures, but whatever the case, youd better believe that i switched back to manifolds when i installed the 390. if i ever have another starter failure, itll be something i can fix in a few minutes, rather than multiple hours. for the time being, my truck is a worktruck. im willing to sacrifice a little bit of performance potential to gain ease of repair.

someday when this truck is retired from its working duties and becomes a restored show-goer, i'll switch back. i liked my headers. i just hated what a PITA they could be when something needed fixed.

sport71 · Post by **sport71** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 8:00 pm

Mad2smile-
Would the mini-starter have made any of a difference for you at all or did you already have the mini

mad2smile · Post by **mad2smile** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 8:21 pm

only if it were small enough to allow installation/removal without taking the header off. a couple of quick measurements could probably confirm...

sport71 · Post by **sport71** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 10:30 pm

mad2smile-

I think that I will get the mini starter for sure, it will have more space between the headers to start with. My main conceren was removing the header incase of any problems.
The truck will be more for show and be in storage most of the time anyway. Thanks for your input..

Roadrunner351w · Post by **Roadrunner351w** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 1:57 pm

I am using a starter from a '93 4x4 it is hight torque and low profile and I did not have to remove the header to put it on. Also I have not had any over heat problems wih this starter yet.

67fordkc · Post by **67fordkc** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 4:41 pm

I have a 352 with headers and I put a high torque mini starter from Robbmc.com on it and have been very pleased. Is there enough clearance to remove the starter without removing the header, I would have to say no. Just my

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