Starter removal on a ‘63 early model

[AZScott]

Getting ready to crawl under the 63 in the Arizona heat (105 now and climbing) to remove the starter. I understand it can be done “easily” without removing the engine. A question to you experts , what is the best path to pull the starter out of a EM once it is unbolted? It looks a little tight, but is there enough room to pull it out sideways by just removing the driver side rear wheel? Or,.. do I need to pull the axel out of the transaxel and drop it down that way? Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks

[bbodie52]

Removal of the electric starter from any Corvair passenger vehicle is relatively easy. Simply jack up the left side of the vehicle and remove the left rear wheel. Be sure to support the car with a jack stand — never trust the scissors jack or any hydraulic jack alone! Also, remember to disconnect the battery so that you remove any chance of creating an electrical short between the electrical terminals on the solenoid and the car chassis. Then disconnect the three wires from the solenoid and remove the two bolts that hold the starter motor in place.

The only problem that I ever experienced in removing a starter was when the Bendix drive gear housing had fractured (a common failure with Corvair starters, unfortunately). When I pulled the starter out the broken housing piece came off the starter and fell into the clutch housing area! The broken piece was sitting somewhere near the bottom of the clutch housing, but I could not reach it with anything to fish it out. I ended up having to unfasten much of the engine and lower it down at the rear. I then had to unbolt the clutch housing from the transaxle and carefully spread the two components apart enough for the broken piece to drop out. This was a lot of extra work that might have been avoided had I been more careful when I removed the damaged starter. If you have any reason to think that you might have a broken starter housing in the drive gear area, try to remove the starter carefully to avoid dropping any components into the clutch housing or torque converter area. (Fractures of this type may be caused by a damaged ring gear or a broken weld that attaches the ring gear to the pressure plate or torque converter. If you ever experience such a failure with your starter you may wind up having to pull the powertrain from the car in order to replace a faulty clutch pressure plate or torque converter).



I have attached a copy of the 1961 Corvair Shop Manual section that describes removal, repair, and installation of the starting motor. See page 8 – 20 of the attachment for more information.

1961 Chevrolet Corvair Shop Manual - Section 8 - Electrical Systems.pdf

1961 Chevrolet Corvair Shop Manual - Section 8 - Electrical Systems

(3.28 MiB) Downloaded 134 times

[AZScott]

Thanks Brad, that was what I needed.

[Danny Joe]

You might want to disconnect the heater hose from the engine shroud so it can be moved out of the way.

This helps vision and easy removal.

[terribleted]

You might want to disconnect the heater hose from the engine shroud so it can be moved out of the way.

This helps vision and easy removal.

I agree!!

[AZScott]

Again thanks everyone, got it out and back in already. Went out easily through the rear wheel well. Luckily the issue wasn’t a cracked nose on the starter or loose ring gear , but instead it was a bad solenoid on the starter. I was able to pick up a replacement solenoid at the local parts store.