> On the other hand, what about foregoing the old starter and going to
> one of the gear reduction units?
That's the route I went on my TR3A, after many frustrating experiences with
the early starters.
The gear drive worked great !
Had no trouble with my warmed-over engine (87mm liners plus high
compression). Both draws less current and will turn the engine on less
voltage from the battery than the old Lucas would.
And no more of that aggravating scenario where the engine fires once, just
enough to pop the Bendix out and then dies, leaving the starter motor
impotently whining until you back off the button and wait for it to stop.
My only complaint is that the gear drive no longer sounds like cranking an
old TRactor motor <g> Sounds more like a jet engine spooling up, with the
gear whine going up in pitch until the engine is running. I don't even hear
the first chug-chug-chug; it's just running.
BTW, I took a little different approach to wiring than most vendors
recommend. I wanted to keep my original solenoid, both because I didn't
think the dash pushbutton would handle the higher current of the new
solenoid, and because the button on the back of the original solenoid is
very handy to have under the hood/bonnet. But I knew some of the smoke had
already leaked out during misadventures with the Lucas starter. So, I wired
the old solenoid to only supply current to the new solenoid coil, and ran a
separate battery cable to the new solenoid contacts.
Very happy with the results, and planning to move the entire setup to the
'project' TR3, eventually.
Randall
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