Dave Mellor NJ Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 (edited) This caught my eye on HAMB's "Vintage shots from days gone by" by LowKat. so did they weld each damaged tooth back on the ring? Edited January 31, 2012 by Dave Mellor NJ (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Bruce aka First Born Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Dave, I don't know the answer to your question. But I am amazed that starter teeth of that, or any, era broke often enough to be a specialty repair. Live and learn. Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bhigdog Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Most likely the tooth wasn't welded back on. The missing tooth was built up with weld and filed to shape. Not as good as a new flywheel but would last long enough to get the car down the road............Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jscheib Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Continuinb Bob's comment"down the road ...." to a trade-in.John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFranklin Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Ben, The most likely answer would be that metals were not as strong, manual retard sometimes forgotten, and money was in short supply. All of these factors could be looked upon as a reason to try this as a business in its day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dr. Strangelove Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Shoot .. !!! I really needed their services to fix not one but two cars I had with missing starter wheel teeth. Both were manual, so for most starts (always when in a hurry, of course ...) one had to have one foot out the door to slightly move the vehicle while in gear to hopefully end up with a good set of teeth for the starter mesh. I was short of time to fix it myself and even shorter of cash to have it done then. My wife found no joy in this, by the way ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restorer32 Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 As my Daddy used to say, "Poor people have poor ways". When he was in the tire business from 1957 to 1970 there was still a demand for tire repairs by vulcanizing, especially truck tires and he sold many, many used tires at $3 each. Biggest part of the business was selling recaps. When was the last time you had a pair of shoes resoled? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 36chev Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 As my Daddy used to say, "Poor people have poor ways". When he was in the tire business from 1957 to 1970 there was still a demand for tire repairs by vulcanizing, especially truck tires and he sold many, many used tires at $3 each. Biggest part of the business was selling recaps. When was the last time you had a pair of shoes resoled?Amazingly enough, about 6 months ago! For a little over $20, had a new soles sewed onto a pair of wingtips and new rubber soles glued to another pair of shoes for another $7.00. Good as new now! But unfortunately this shop will probably be closing soon. The fellow operating the shop is in his mid-late 70's and probably retiring. No one is interested in taking it over. And I think the equipment is about the same age! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ply33 Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 As my Daddy used to say, "Poor people have poor ways". When he was in the tire business from 1957 to 1970 there was still a demand for tire repairs by vulcanizing, especially truck tires and he sold many, many used tires at $3 each. Biggest part of the business was selling recaps. When was the last time you had a pair of shoes resoled?Amazingly enough, about 6 months ago! For a little over $20, had a new soles sewed onto a pair of wingtips and new rubber soles glued to another pair of shoes for another $7.00. Good as new now! But unfortunately this shop will probably be closing soon. The fellow operating the shop is in his mid-late 70's and probably retiring. No one is interested in taking it over. And I think the equipment is about the same age!There are a couple of shoe repair places near where I live. Don't know how they keep in business as they don't appear to be very busy. A number of years ago I got tired of cheap shoes that wore out quickly and weren't repairable. So I now have a couple of good pairs of shoes, made in USA, that can be re-soled by a local shoe repair or sent back to the factory to be "remanufactured". Seems like it is actually cheaper in the long run than buying throw away shoes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Mellor NJ Posted January 31, 2012 Author Share Posted January 31, 2012 Most likely the tooth wasn't welded back on. The missing tooth was built up with weld and filed to shape. Not as good as a new flywheel but would last long enough to get the car down the road............BobThat makes more sense, Dog, but it would still be pretty hard welding through the starter hole and filing. I would think it easier to just pull the trans,clutch and pressure plate to get to the Flywheel and just replace the ring gear normally. I've been told that an engine always stops in the same place, on the highest compression piston, that's why the teeth in one spot wear out. The oldtimers would move the flywheel around 180 degrees and start on new teeth but that would still require pulling the flywheel unless they could get the attaching screws out through the hole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest longman Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Dont quote me, but couldnt they replace the entire ring gear without removing the flywheel? It says nothing about not removing the gearbox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandy Dave Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I had a problem with one of my 1975 Chevy Novas one time a bunch of years back. The starter bendix came apart, ( You GM guys know about that stainless piece.) and broke a tooth and a half off of the flywheel. Not wanting to spend the time to change the flywheel, I pulled the lower cover, got an old coat hanger, and used that to gas weld new teeth on the flywheel. I used a die grinder to shape the teeth and a bendix gear to test the fit. I ran that car for years afterward, and never did have a problem with the flywheel after that. Dandy Dave! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandy Dave Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Dont quote me, but couldnt they replace the entire ring gear without removing the flywheel? It says nothing about not removing the gearbox.A lot of early cars did not have a removeable ring gear. The gear was cut into the flywheel casting. To replace it you would have had to remove the flywheel and have it turned in a lathe to fit a ring gear, if one was even available. Or replace the whole flywheel. Dandy Dave! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Yaros Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 So I now have a couple of good pairs of shoes, made in USA, that can be re-soled by a local shoe repair or sent back to the factory to be "remanufactured". Seems like it is actually cheaper in the long run than buying throw away shoes.Would they be Allen Edmonds? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ply33 Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 That makes more sense, Dog, but it would still be pretty hard welding through the starter hole and filing....My '33 has a removable cover on the bottom of the flywheel/clutch that makes access to the bottom half of the flywheel easy. Not familiar with teens and twenties cars but is it possible that many of them had that too.I had a problem with one of my 1975 Chevy Novas one time a bunch of years back. The starter bendix came apart, ( You GM guys know about that stainless piece.) and broke a tooth and a half off of the flywheel. Not wanting to spend the time to change the flywheel, I pulled the lower cover, got an old coat hanger, and used that to gas weld new teeth on the flywheel. I used a die grinder to shape the teeth and a bendix gear to test the fit. I ran that car for years afterward, and never did have a problem with the flywheel after that. Dandy Dave!Sounds to me to be exactly what they were doing back then.Would they be Allen Edmonds?Yep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bhigdog Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Lets give the old timers credit for ingenuity and craftsmanship. A friend of mine was way up in Quebec in a very small town when his car developed a bad rod knock. The only service in town was a ramshackle gas station. The old timer type mechanic took one listen and said he'd never make the 1000 miles home. He pulled the pan and found a badly scored journal. A parts store 60 miles away had a -.010 bearing in stock and dropped in the local mail. The mechanic started on the crank with files and emery cloth and in couple of hours pronounced it good to go. The next day the bearing arrived, was installed and the mechanic said "keep it under 50 mph and it will get you home". My friend did and it did. He drove it around town for two more weeks until he could get a permanent repair.......Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Henderson Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 (edited) I had a visitor in a GM Chevy something. when he went to leave the starter drive hit a bad spot on the ring gear and it wouldn't start. (he said the engine stoped in different positions and it didn't happen regularly). Thinking he was really in a jam, i got a big surprize. He, obviously accustomed to the failure, put it in neutral, got out an allen wrench, and applied it to the alternator bolt, turning the engine to a different position, got back in, turned the key, and surprize.... it cranked right up! Edited February 1, 2012 by Dave Henderson (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest prs519 Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Another method I have used for this is simply (if manual) rock the vehicle the tiniest of an amount with the trans. in high gear and the clutch engaged. It doesn't take much to move one tooth. In fact, quite often my old Ford truck (if the gears are not lined up in a restive manner (if that makes sense), simply forcing the unit into compound rocks ernough to move a flywheel tooth a scad. Sometimes going back and forth to reverse from first and back does the same thing. Again, it doesn't take much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Crusty Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 If a guy knew he had some missing teeth, he could try to always park on a bit of an incline. If the starter didn't catch on the first try, just release the parking brake and let the car roll a bit, let out the clutch and hit the starter.In high school my brother drove an Oldsmobile without reverse for two years; he always had to park with a forward exit in mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cargray Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 A few years ago, I built up a couple of the teeth on a FORD 9N tractor, with a wire feed welder...{removed the starter and worked thru that hole}..ground the teeth to a reasonable shape with a die grinder..Starter was still working when the tractor was sold about 4 years later..RD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Mellor NJ Posted February 4, 2012 Author Share Posted February 4, 2012 That must be the way they did it. Practise made perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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