Do I have the correct high-torque starter?

[senm]

Greetings,

 

I purchased a TR3B a few years ago which I am finally getting around to do some work on. With it came a high-torque starter as well as an original long-type starter. The HT looks like a remanufactured type and came as an extra spare. I have now unmounted the original starter and would like to try out the HT one. However, when I measure the length which the gear extends, it seems like it will only reach about half-way onto the flywheel ring gear. Is this the way it should be, or do I have the wrong type of high-torque starter for my car?

 

The ring gear is of the bolt-on type, and the starter gear (on both starters) has 10 teeth. The bell-housing has a cut-out part to make space for the long-type starter, so it seems like the gearbox has been changed at some point of time.

The only identifications on the HT starter is a red label I think has the lettering "Remanufacturers" on, and an engraved code that I can't really make out but that maybe starts with TR4...

 

Any advice on the whether the high-torque starter can be used is greatly appreciated!

[Hicks51]

Hi, this week I bought another hi-torque starter off ebay, to replace the worn-out one that came with the car. Cambridge Motorsport are the suppliers and I spoke to a very helpful guy called Mike when I phoned to make sure I was ordering the correct one (9 or 10 teeth). I emailed him a close up photo of the one I was replacing and within 2 days I had a new motor that turns the engine over about 2 or 3 times faster than before - much quicker starting! Although you may not be buying a motor off them, you could ask for advice.

 

I have a 1957 TR3 but don't know what engine is actually fitted (could be original), and the starter has 10 teeth which apparently is designed for 3A, 3B and 4. It sounds like you have the correct one for the car.

 

Brian

[Richardtr3a]

I bought mine from Cambridge Motorsport and it is perfect. It has been untouched for well over 12 years and spins the engine round very well. If you add a Distributor Doctor dizzie your car will start almost like a daily driver.

Buy it from Cambridge Motor Sport

 

Good Luck Richard

[vivdownunder]

Sounds like your 3B has the correct bolt-on ring gear, starter motor and later gearbox with recess for the starter motor shaft.

 

It's the wrong Hi-Torque starter though (or at least the wrong mount plate), and the pinion will soon fail if not fully meshed.

 

The answer is to look for a correct mount plate, or a new Hi-Torque starter specifically for TR's after commission number TS50000 when the bolt-on ring gear was first fitted,

 

Viv.

[senm]

What you write makes sense, Viv.

I will pull off the gear box tunnel cover later this week to get a better look. What I meant in my first post was that the a whole has been made in the bell-housing, so unfortunately the gear-box is not original for the car. But the hole should let me see if it is fully meshed or not.

Any ideas where I could get a correct mount plate, and how to specify what would be correct for this specific setup?

 

Sven

[vivdownunder]

Sven, unfortunately, some years back, Hi-Torque starters were sold as suitable for TR2-3B, whereas they were actually made for another vehicle that used the familiar Lucas starter motor. They were of poor quality and many gave trouble. Nowadays two better quality models of Hi-Torque starters are sold for TR's, each with a different pinion to suit either the early shrink-on or later bolt-on ring gears.

 

For a TR with bolt-on ring gear, a 10T pinion is needed (as you have). The correct distance (at rest) from the face of the starter mount plate to the front edge of the pinion is 29.337mm.

 

Sorry I can't help with a supplier for a replacement adaptor plate, but if your starter looks to be say over 10 years old, even though unused, it might be worth getting one of the newer better quality versions.

 

If you fit a Hi-Torque starter, consider fitting a cover plate to the hole in your earlier bell-housing to keep dust out of the clutch.

 

Regards,

 

Viv.

[senm]

Thanks everyone for your input.

 

Viv: I'm impressed by your accuracy. The same distance on my starter measures approx. 5 mm less than what you specify, which also is how much more that is needed to be fully meshed.

 

I will either refit the original starter or get a new, correct high torque starter.

 

 

Br,

Sven