StarterTrivia

[Badvert65]

I brought this up in another thread, the fact that there are 3:1 and 2:1 gear reduction Mopar starters. Starters prior to 1974 (give or take) were typically of the 3:1 gear reduction type. With the introduction of electronic ignition, Mopar engineers discovered that the distributor needed to spin faster at startup to make starting easier. And this brought about the use of the 2:1 gear reduction starter. Working in autoparts has shown me that a lot of rebuilders do not really separate the two types and it is usually a crap shoot when getting a remanufactured starter. Most cases it doesn't realy matter and nobody really minds. But for those of you that do care, here are some pics.
There is not really a way to tell from the outside. Mopar made different 'strength' starters for heavy duty and other applications. These will look slightly different on the outside (HD ones are typically longer). What you would need to do to ID the gear ratio is to snap the cover off the gearset (bendix) and visually inspect.
Basically the 2:1 gearset (on left) is smaller than the 3:1 gearset (on right).

The 3:1 Bendix gear is approximately 2" in dia.

The 2:1 bendix gear is approximatley 1.75" in dia.

This is just one of those little known things about Mopars that you either didn't know or (still) don't really care about.

 

[YY1]

Thanks.

I just ran into the "longer" starter issue trying to put one from my parts stash on (of all things) a 440 with headers in a truck.

The starter is wedged and touching the headers In front, not side), and was a bitch to install.

Also noticed the nose was longer and bottomed on the bell housing---had to be ground down.

 

[Meep-Meep]

I have noticed some differences but never knew this. Great info and thanks for posting!

 

[Photon440]

And apparently the 3:1 uses some sort of brown metal. But seriously, I wasn't aware of this. Do they pull different cranking amps?

 

[Badvert65]

And apparently the 3:1 uses some sort of brown metal. But seriously, I wasn't aware of this. Do they pull different cranking amps?

You like that? I think it's called 'patina'. I was in a hurry so I just grabbed some, er..'seasoned' parts for the pics.
The starters came in different amp ratings based on application.