Well, lookie there... with a little patience, an open end wrench, and a long
string of words not suitable for the tender ears of children, the top bolt
securing the starter in place came off! Woo Hoo! Turns out the problem
with "clearance" for a socket on that bolt head was just that sheetmetal
apron thingy that's in the way. The starter is off... but not out.
Although the shop manual makes the "theoretical" removal of the starter seem
as easy as changing the air filter, it turns out that things are not quite
that simple. The only way to remove that starter from a '67 with single
exhaust is to remove the downpipe on the drivers side. Not really an option
right now because mine is additionally secured by a lovely layer of rust.
Any attempt to disturb it will send it into fits and I fear that my exhaust
manifold will not come out of this unscathed... or at least I'll be looking
at major exhaust work.
It's time to regroup. Put on your thinking caps. The only reason that I'm
attempting to pull my starter in the first place is because the copper bolt
on the starter that the positive connection attaches to, has snapped off.
The starter itself cranks wonderfully. I have the old starter flipped
sideways and how have a head on view of, and great access to, the remains of
the snapped bolt. No threads exposed for a nut to grab onto. There is a
nut on the remains of the bolt, but it is what is holding it to the starter
and any attempt to loosen that nut has started to disfigure the pot metal in
that area. If I try to take that nut off, a portion of the pot metal in
that area will be ripped off along with the remains of the bolt, leaving a
nice hole in the starter. I was willing to fork over the cash for a new
starter even though the only thing wrong with the old starter was a sheered
off bolt. But I am not ready to replace the exhaust system just because of
said sheered off bolt. Dual exhaust would be awfully nice though... maybe
after the bodywork is done. How can I reattach the positive connection to
that terminal? Yes, JB Weld is a gift from God, but it is not electrically
conductive and I don't think that it's the answer this time.
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