starter removal

[Don C]

how do you remove the starter with out pulling the engine on 6 cyl. henry j.  teh top bolt is imposable to get to. Don C

[Fid]

It depends - is it a '51 or late '52 - '54 Henry J?  A '51, with an Autolite starter is a piece of cake so I'm guessing you're asking about a '52-'54 with the Delco starter. It can be done, you have to use an open end wrench and you can make maybe an 8th of a turn at a time but be patient, you can get it off. It takes some leaning and stretching. It's not my favorite thing to do but I've done it. What problem are you having?  The starter buttons in the Delco equipped Js are notorious for burning up since they have  to pass a lot of current to fire that solenoid.

[Don C]

thanks  Fid. will try again  Don C

[Terry T]

a set of "shorties" come in handy for this job

[joefrazer]

It also helps to remove the coil and mount bracket first.

And Fid must be right as my 54 had the starter push button jumped to a much heavier industrial strength unit. When I pulled the original it crumbled in my hand.

[Corsairdeluxe]

You probably have one .but in case you do not they are a big help in doing starters.

 

[Fid]

That looks like the perfect wrench Jim! I may need to get one. Anyway, the '51 HJ and '52 HJ Vagabond originally used Autolite starters which have a small, relay, often mis-identified as a 'solenoid' on them. They have a single, 16 gauge wire which runs up to the starter button. Pushing the starter button grounds the coil in the relay via that wire, putting the contacts together to supply 6 volts to the starter from the battery. When the starter spins, the drive gear is engaged to the ring gear on the flywheel using centrifugal force.  The '52- '54 models have a Delco-Remy starter which had a large solenoid on it which does two things - engages the starter drive gear with ring gear on the flywheel by shoving it backwards, then closes a relay inside it to apply 6 volts from the battery to the starter to turn it. The Delco unit has 12 gauge wires going to it!  It takes a lot of current to do it's job and in my opinion, the starter buttons is too light to operate it for very long. NAPA used to carry an exact replacement but not any more. I've found some at Fleetfarm and grabbed 'em all up. 

[Corsairdeluxe]

That delco solenoid draws a lot of current. I had a problem with inadequate throw or pull. I finally solved it by running a ground wire from the solenoid mounting bolt directly to ground at the battery. It worked. I guarantee you all my regular grounds were clean.