What year/ make should I pull one of these starters from so that it would be a bolt in to a 78 k5 blazer 350?
CK5
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OEM GM Mini permanent magnet starter motor
- Thread starter wazzabie
- Start date
bronc3buster842001
1/2 ton status
I don't know what years they started to use them. I have one off a 96 or so S10 Blazer. Have another off a 97 or so Astro van. The was also used on the fullsize trucks.
I have it on my 97 van with a 350.
I want to say it started with the Vortec engines so 96 would be a safe bet.
would they be a direct bolt in for the 70's 350's?
63chevyll
1/2 ton status
you will need shorter starter bolts or put washers under the head.
I buy for 97 K1500's Starters and bolts
I buy for 97 K1500's Starters and bolts
I always buy one for a 1995 k3500 with a 7.4l.
Always comes out right. Little starter weighs at least 1/2 what the old style ones do, bolts right to my 76 and 79 350's and uses the 168t flywheel/flexplate. 
First time I heard of this little magic monster was when I was doing the V-8 swap on an old S-10 and the JTR (Jaguars That Run) book I bought to help out recommended it.
You can use the one for a LT-1 powered Camaro/Corvette in the early 90's if you need one for the 153t flywheel/flexplate BTW.
First time I heard of this little magic monster was when I was doing the V-8 swap on an old S-10 and the JTR (Jaguars That Run) book I bought to help out recommended it.You can use the one for a LT-1 powered Camaro/Corvette in the early 90's if you need one for the 153t flywheel/flexplate BTW.
how would i know what fly plate tooth count i have?
Mostly cars came with the 153t. It's been a while since I've looked at starters, but you should be able to tell the difference in the starter gears when you look at them. AFAIK, trucks all came with 168t flywheel/flexplate. Oh, if you put the wrong one on, you'll know pretty quick. Most of the time I've seen them break the bendix housing off the starter in the first few turns. 
bronc3buster842001
1/2 ton status
The 153t flexplate uses the straight across bolt pattern starter. The 168t uses the stagger bolts.
DeviousK5
1/2 ton status
Alright i jumped on board on this cute tiny little starter, my original one has crazy draw
((ordered for 97 S-10,4wd)going into 88-350TBI blazer)
My starter has two small wires and 2 different terminals at the starter. New starter has only 1 small terminal.
What do i do with the extra wire?
wiring diagram in the chilton manual says it goes to the crank fuse then onto the ecm,what purpose does this wire have?Help please!!!
((ordered for 97 S-10,4wd)going into 88-350TBI blazer)
My starter has two small wires and 2 different terminals at the starter. New starter has only 1 small terminal.
What do i do with the extra wire?
wiring diagram in the chilton manual says it goes to the crank fuse then onto the ecm,what purpose does this wire have?Help please!!!
If its the one I think it is, probably yellow, then it goes to the coil, and you are going to have to figure out a way to adapt it.
When you are cranking, the battery voltage drops due to the load. So, in order to make sure you have a hot spark, coils were designed to operate at a lower than 12 volt voltage.
A resistor was placed in the run circuit to drop the voltage down to its normal running voltage when you were running.
That wire, which is only hot when you are cranking, bypasses the resistor and lets full battery voltage go to the coil just when the starter is drawing a load.
In this case, if I am right as to what wire it is, you have two choices.
1 tape the wire off and run the truck without it. With the decreased load from that starter, it may not be necessary any more.
2 if it is necessary, you will need to add a Ford starter solenoid to the circuit. It can fire the starter, and it has a terminal for that purpose that you could hook the wire to.
Someone else should chime in here shortly who has done one and can give some real world examples.
On my old Ford tractor, when I converted it to 12 volts from 6, I added a resistor to drop the 14.5 from the alternator to 6 going to the coil.
But, I put a momentary contact switch on the dash that would bypass the resistor and put full battery voltage to the coil briefly.
On a real cold morning, or if the battery is weak for some reason, I can bump that switch while cranking to give it an extra hot spark.
When you are cranking, the battery voltage drops due to the load. So, in order to make sure you have a hot spark, coils were designed to operate at a lower than 12 volt voltage.
A resistor was placed in the run circuit to drop the voltage down to its normal running voltage when you were running.
That wire, which is only hot when you are cranking, bypasses the resistor and lets full battery voltage go to the coil just when the starter is drawing a load.
In this case, if I am right as to what wire it is, you have two choices.
1 tape the wire off and run the truck without it. With the decreased load from that starter, it may not be necessary any more.
2 if it is necessary, you will need to add a Ford starter solenoid to the circuit. It can fire the starter, and it has a terminal for that purpose that you could hook the wire to.
Someone else should chime in here shortly who has done one and can give some real world examples.
On my old Ford tractor, when I converted it to 12 volts from 6, I added a resistor to drop the 14.5 from the alternator to 6 going to the coil.
But, I put a momentary contact switch on the dash that would bypass the resistor and put full battery voltage to the coil briefly.
On a real cold morning, or if the battery is weak for some reason, I can bump that switch while cranking to give it an extra hot spark.
Do the '87 V30's with 454's have the big or small starter?
When I got my '87 from another member here, the motor was in the bed and the starter was laying on the floor in the cab. It was the mini starter. Didn't find any more like a big starter anywhere so I figured it must have used that little one.
When I got my '87 from another member here, the motor was in the bed and the starter was laying on the floor in the cab. It was the mini starter. Didn't find any more like a big starter anywhere so I figured it must have used that little one.
I ran quite a few trucks with points and they didn't have that yellow wire hooked up to the coil,I never noticed any difference..you could use a regular ballast resistor along with a new wire from the ignition to get around that --dont just hook a ballast resistor to the original coil hot wire,as its a resistance wire and you'll end up cutting down the voltage to the coil by half at least--it wont run good that way!..use a new wire ...
Agreed,its only powered up with a full 12V for a few seconds time while cranking it over,the Ford solenoid will work fine,but it is overkill--..I've had issues with the resistance wire on older GM's getting too much resistance with age,or failing alltogether,so I have just run a new wire from the ignition to a 2 prong ballast resistor like old Mopars used instead of using the OEM wire--and I always kept a spare resistor on board in case it failed--but never had one give me any grief..
anyone have a picture of these two next to eachother?
Definitely overkill. I only brought it up because it was designed for that purpose, and the wiring up of it was obvious.
Plus, it is rated for under the hood use and has a built in mount.
Some automotive relays, especially the fuse block kind, need sockets to mount them with and like better protection.
Plus, it is rated for under the hood use and has a built in mount.
Some automotive relays, especially the fuse block kind, need sockets to mount them with and like better protection.
