[Guest]

I was working on my '65 Fastback and had a hard time getting it started. It also had the unmistakable smell
of insulation burning. I checked the battery terminals
and both were hot. I immediately disconnected the batteries
positive cable. I checked it over and found that the cable
which goes from the solenoid to the starter had the insulation melted off the end by the starter; and also
the positive starter terminal was in direct contact with
the header on the passenger side, causing it to short at
startup. Did anyone else run across this problem ?
Are there alternative starters which have their positive
terminal in a different location to avoid this problem ?

Thanks in advance,

Henry

 

[Midlife]

Your starter connection point obviously shorted to the headers, which is ground. You were drawing 100's of amps through the wire, which burned the insulation.

You'll have to separate the two components somehow, so they don't touch, and you should be fine. That is, after you replace the starter cable and possibly the solenoid.

 

[70calypsomach]

I think I remember having the same problem on my 70 302 with headers. I think I solved the problem by removing the starter and cutting the threaded terminal on the starter and then getting a thinner nut from the hardware store. I think it gained me about 1/8 inch which was enough. Other option is to dent the header..Ouch. Try option 1 first. If you are not comfortable with the amount of thread engagement put a drop of #2 (blue) threadlock on. I did not have a problem after that except I would go through a starter once a year because of the excess heat.

 

[tirefire]

I am having the exact same problem with my 65 also. It prevented me from starting my freshly rebuilt 302 tonight.

Thanks for the idea Mark I'll have to try that tomorrow