54 KAISER starter issues

[oldpm]

Good morning All,
Seems that my starter bendix is not extending far enough all of the time.  Sometimes it grabs well, sometimes it just seems to grab enough to intermittently turn the engine and make a lot of grinding noise, and sometimes it just spins.  That bendix came from Mac's Ford I believe and it is not that old.  I am deathly afraid of damaging the ring gear as it is an automatic.  Any ideas or suggestions as to a source for a new bendix would be highly appreciated. 
Thanks
Barry

[MarkH]

I see NOS ones turn up fairly regularly on ebay. Search ebay motors, then "vintage parts", I know I've seen at least 3 in the last week using Willys in that category, and some might cross.

This guy might have it too, he's come up with some pretty hard to find NOS parts unique to my Aero engine, claims to have about a million parts in stock, and the books to tell what they fit.

http://yesteryearautoparts.com/YAAP/Home.html

[Corsairdeluxe]

I have a quick ,simple test that may save you time and money.

A poor ground can cause the problem you describe. Take a starter cable and run it from a starter mounting bolt to the ground post on the battery and try it out.It worked for me .I ran a ground wire from the starter mounting bolt to the battery and my problem went away!

[oldpm]

Thanks for the suggestions!  I mulled over the problem and decided that the flywheel was the most important part of the equation, so sent the whole unit off to be rebuilt.  We’ll see how that goes!
Barry

[oldpm]

Sent the starter to Classic Generator, 4316 Dollar Street, Midlothian, TX 76065.  Looked like new when I got it back and all of my starter problems have been solved!  It had several age related issues and they were all corrected.  Web site is www.Classicenerator.com.
Highly recommended!
Barry

[jbailey]

I believe the correct web address is:

http://www.classicgenerator.com/

John B.

[oldpm]

You’re very right, my computer has a spelling issue!
Barry