Starter for 602/604

[RacerX10]

Is there any good reason not to run a $50.00 Autozone starter on these crate engines ?

[supercomet32]

ITS FROM AUTOZONE should be reason enough....as for why. autozone parts fail too often to trust on a race machine. it wont handle the conditions nor hold up to the abuse. the best reason to use one is take your car out of contention without warning when it fails to fire or chews up your flywheel in order to ensure you bets against yourself come through.

oh yeah and chances are its made in china....three great things come from china kung fu, general tso's pork chicken or beef and in shape porn stars......i doubt either of those will help your race program though if your not used to it the general tso's chicken might make you drive faster to get to the bathroom.

stick to quality american made parts from a reputable source. not a cheap parts distributor dealing in high quantity deals that give you a low price.

[RacerX10]

I've used an Autozone starter for an entire racing season before .. 0 problems. I was asking more about people running a stock starter on a crate engine because it has a low compression ratio and a vanilla starter should (in theory) work just fine.

I'm doubting you can show me an actual starter MOTOR that was made in the USA, but feel free to prove me wrong I've see many, many "race" parts that are nothing more than an off the shelf part with a racy-looking sticker on it and a quadrupled price tag added.

Thanks for your comments.

[Egoracing]

A 604 is 10:1 so you would need a high torque at the very least.

[RacerX10]

A 604 is 10:1 so you would need a high torque at the very least.

Odd .. the 604 data sheet I have says 9.6:1 which is very common in daily drivers (incl mid-80's chevy 350 pickups) that are using $50.00 Autozone starters just fine.

Not looking to argue here, just soliciting opinions and I appreciate yours .. thanks

I think this is going to be one of those deals where I just try it out and see how it goes.

[Egoracing]

Odd .. the 604 data sheet I have says 9.6:1 which is very common in daily drivers (incl mid-80's chevy 350 pickups) that are using $50.00 Autozone starters just fine.

Not looking to argue here, just soliciting opinions and I appreciate yours .. thanks

I think this is going to be one of those deals where I just try it out and see how it goes.

Most performance engines in the mid 80's were 9:1 and production engines were in the 7-8:1 ratio. The Corvette in 1981 was only 8.2:1, in 82 and 84 it was the L81 engine at 9:1 and the 85-92 it was the L98 which was 9.5:1. These are all the "Performance" engines and all had factory high torque starters.

[RacerX10]

1969 l-48 10.25:1

1969 l-46 11:1

1969 lq-3 10.25.1

1970 lt-1 11:1

1981 le-9 9.5:1

1983 l-69 9.5:1

1991 l-98 10:1

[Egoracing]

The old engines were leaded fuel and they were over 10:1 and they did use high torque starters. You said mid 80's, the LE9 is a 150hp 305 at 9:1, not a 350, Not sure what a L69 is but the LG9 is again a 305 at 145hp.
Here is a page listing specs for Corvette engines which have the highest compression of the small block chevy during the gen 1 years, ALL had high torque starters.

http://www.wordiq.com/definition/GM_Small-Block_engine

I will agree that some newer are higher (over 9:1), the 94 silverado and 94 Suburban I had both were higher compression and BOTH had factory gear reduction high torque starters. Anything above 9:1 factory requires premium fuel.

[RacerX10]

I guess it would depend on what we are calling a "high torque" starter.

Speedway sells a racing mini-starter that that they call "high torque" and it's 1.4 kw.

The $39.00 AutoZone starter is 1.2 kw.

Not a heck of a lot of difference there (~0.25hp)

For the record, I'm kinda thinking a better reason to run a mini starter is 10 less lbs in front of the flexplate

<shrug>

[hillbilly21]

factory starter weight

as far as weight i guess it depends on wich factory or "auto zone" starter you use if you get one for a "80's" sbc you will get the really big and heavy one if you get one for a 1998 full size chevy/gmc pick up it will be a lighter and smaller "mini starter" wich i have on my "602" crate for the last two complete season's yes the same napa stock replacement starter i even baught a identicle one used from a junk yard to have on the trailer just in case and i have yet to need it . and by the way those expensive "race" starters are made to turn over high compression engines wich the good ones will but the ability to turn one over has NOTHING TO DO WITH LONGEVITY BEFORE YOU AUTOMATICLY THINK THE MORE YOU SPEND THE LONGER IT WILL LAST THINK AGAIN. check out the warranty on the high dollor starter guess what it says something along the lines of this is a electrical componet made for racing and there is no written or applied warranty so when it breaks wich they do you are out big bucks . and they do have a place in open motors. however the "604" nore the "602" is not and does not require anything but a stock replacement wich by the way do carry a warranty and you could by one and a spare and still be half of a "race starter" or less .

[RacerX10]

as far as weight i guess it depends on wich factory or "auto zone" starter you use if you get one for a "80's" sbc you will get the really big and heavy one if you get one for a 1998 full size chevy/gmc pick up it will be a lighter and smaller "mini starter" wich i have on my "602" crate for the last two complete season's yes the same napa stock replacement starter i even baught a identicle one used from a junk yard to have on the trailer just in case and i have yet to need it . and by the way those expensive "race" starters are made to turn over high compression engines wich the good ones will but the ability to turn one over has NOTHING TO DO WITH LONGEVITY BEFORE YOU AUTOMATICLY THINK THE MORE YOU SPEND THE LONGER IT WILL LAST THINK AGAIN. check out the warranty on the high dollor starter guess what it says something along the lines of this is a electrical componet made for racing and there is no written or applied warranty so when it breaks wich they do you are out big bucks . and they do have a place in open motors. however the "604" nore the "602" is not and does not require anything but a stock replacement wich by the way do carry a warranty and you could by one and a spare and still be half of a "race starter" or less .

Thanks hillbilly, I wasn't aware there was a smaller / lighter OEM type .. I'll try and find that. Do you happen to have a part number for it ?

[hillbilly21]

no sorry i don have a part number but just ask for a late 90's full size chevy pick up with a 5.7 litre engine. like 95-96-97-98 anywere in there they are half the size of a early starter

[Egoracing]

Those are gear reduction, hi torque starters. I never said you needed a race style starter. Hillbilly if the parts store knew you were putting the parts on a racecar they would not have a warranty either as it states in there warranty policy.

[hillbilly21]

well i never said to go in and advertise its going on a race car and the point is a parts store starter =no problemo dude. and what i said is just to comfort him in his choice of a parts store starter and so i could point him in the direction to the right one it wasent a shot at anybody i consider everyones opinion a very good resource of knowledge on here just stating my experiance to help a brother out i hope he spends the 50 or 60 at the zone and spends the rest he was going to use on tires as the stock type starters work just fine.

[Egoracing]

I agree with you but saying a racing part has no warranty but the stock replacement you use is not true. I have also had racing companies replace parts that were bad or went bad early in there life.
The mid 90's rear reduction starter is a REALLY good piece and I know several people that use them on some STOUT engines with no issues. The Original "MINI" starters that many companies sold are just stock starters with an adapter block bolted on to make it fit a small block chevy or ford.