On the road again, Mini-starter works great! Options

[ThinAir]

The weather was warm enough today that I could finally install the mini-starter that I purchased back in December. My teener has been laid up since December 12th after the starter went out (again) on the trip to Phoenix for the Toys-for-Tots breakfast. It got so bad that I could not get the starter to crank even with the screwdriver trick!

I purchased my starter on eBay from Hi-Performance of America I have no connection with them other than being a satisfied customer.

One tricky part of the installation is that there is no notch for the upper bolt head to rest in so you have to reach over the tranny from the passenger side and position a wrench on the bolt head so that it won't fall off when you go back to the engine compartment to put on the nut.

The hardest part for me was that the connections end up on the top of the starter so the best way to access them is by reaching over the transmission from the passenger side. Since I've got a Bowlsby ignition wiring harness (that is pretty stiff) this proved to be fairly tricky. I almost thought I was going to have to choose between a starter connection or backup lights.

My fear in using this starter was that I'd heard that sometimes they need to be shimmed. I really didn't have the patience for that kind of job in winter weather. Fortunately, it worked like a charm on the very first attempt. WooHoo!

Now we'll see if indeed this solves the hot-start problem over the long haul as it is reputed to do. I sure hope so. I'm tired of being push-started at Red Rock Classic every year!! For now I'm just delighted to be driving the teener again!

I've attached a couple of photos to show the difference between the stock and mini starters.

[ThinAir]

I must be missing something here...

The starter I pulled off is what is known as a "VW Bus Style" starter. There's nothing strange about it and it's commonly used. The real difference between it and the stock starter is that the stock starter has a shaft which is supported by a pilot bushing in the tranny case, while the Bus Style starter doesn't need that.

I've had the Bus Style starter on my son's 1975 Bus and at least 4 914-4s and also put in on my other son's 1965 bug (12v convert). My 73 is the first Type IV that I've had so many hot start problems with.

Edit:
Yes, this is also known as the "automatic tranny starter" starter. The manual transmission style is shown here: (IMG:http://www.busdepot.com/images/parts/SR87XOR.jpg)
Busdepot.com sells both styles of starter
Manual Transmission Style
Automatic Transmission Style

This post has been edited by ThinAir: Jan 29 2007, 11:27 PM

[cooltimes]

I must be missing something here...

The starter I pulled off is what is known as a "VW Bus Style" starter. There's nothing strange about it and it's commonly used. The real difference between it and the stock starter is that the stock starter has a shaft which is supported by a pilot bushing in the tranny case, while the Bus Style starter doesn't need that.

I've had the Bus Style starter on my son's 1975 Bus and at least 4 914-4s and also put in on my other son's 1965 bug (12v convert). My 73 is the first Type IV that I've had so many hot start problems with.

Nothing seen wrong with your post. I was just asking because the flaps were confusing me and saying the photos you posted, that I printed and took with me to show what starter I wanted should look like and they said it was for a 914 with an automatic tranny. They were wrong. not you.
Thanks for posting your post or I wouldn't have found the right starter without spending more bucks for shipping the same thing the FLAPS had from a vendor out of state.

Mike