Northway engine starter

[Dodge1934]

Over the years I have picked up 4 1919 ish Northway engine starters. The original type I have 2  like this and they  have pot metal backs but they are both toast and unusable. The other 2 have  cast steel backs and they are good but the units have differences. The mounting holes appear to be exactly the same... the overall diameter of the starter is larger on the good starters but they seem to fit fine. The diameter of the  starter shaft and the diameter of the  engaging gear are both larger than the original starter. The larger starter unit will not ingage the the flywheel correctly due to it`s larger size.

My plan to fix this is to machine the shaft beyond the front casting to the 1919 smaller diameter starter and install the enaging unit on the machined shaft and all should be fine.

What could possibly go wrong????

Your thoughts....

Thanks

[trini]

Sounds like a good idea. A good machinist will be able to  that . If you have a good press you should be able to push out the shaft and interchanged them but it is more work . Comutaters, field coils and shaft are all separate at the factory A worker will press them in place .