Starter removal

I have purchased a boat with a pair of 350cid engines with rear mounted starters. I need to remove both starters and cannot get any kind of wrench on the nuts on the inboard mounting studs. Closest I have come was to get a crowfoot wrench on one good enough to round it off. I'm thinking of removing the riveted on metal plate that seems to be the main obstruction. None of my offset wrenches will work on this. With that plate in the way, even if one could get a wrench on the nut, there is no room to turn it. Am I missing something here?? The engine compartment on this boat had been flooded with rain water almost to the valve covers on the engines and there's rust on many of the fasteners. Oil level on dipsticks shows normal, but of course I'll drain the engines and change all filters before I try to start them. This and other peripheral issues are for other discussions, once I get the starters replaced.
This is my first post on this forum.

vintageray said:

.... The engine compartment on this boat had been flooded with rain water almost to the valve covers on the engines ...

This is my first post on this forum.

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Welcome to ME.com

If the engine compartment has had that much water in it, the gears have been submerged....so you may want to rethink what needs to be done....

As far as those nuts go, they are a pain...though they usually submit to a good snap-on or Mac wrench. Since you have rounded the nuts, you might want to try alternatives (vice-grips??). If that doesn't pan out, I'd say the only other option would be to crib up the engine, remove the gear, and then take the flywheel cover off and try it on the bench....

Thanks for the welcome. Should have mentioned that I was an automotive mechanic for most of my working years and had a shop, restoring antique and special interest vehicles and building race cars. I was just baffled at the way these starters are attached and thought there might be a special tool, rather than having to make one to get them off. The engineers must have had a good chuckle when they came up with this installation. I'll use a die grinder to cut the rivets holding those metal plates and after removing the starters, pull the studs and replace them with bolts with 12 point heads to make them easier to remove in the future.
The Velvet Drives seem okay. Pulled the screens, drained them and saw no water. Seals must be good. At any rate, they're pretty simple direct drive automatics and easy to rebuild.
I got seriously into boating and moved onboard when I retired about six years ago.

Have you closely inspected the stringer for rot. If the boat sat full of rain water the stringers may have gotten soaked and cause serious problems.

vintageray said:

..................... I'll use a die grinder to cut the rivets holding those metal plates, and after removing the starters, pull the studs and replace them with bolts with 12 point heads to make them easier to remove in the future..............

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Food for thought:

The Engineers called for female threads within the Borg Warner pattern Aluminum flywheel covers.
Aluminum female threads are not typically intended to be torqued against.
Typically, studs are threaded into the aluminum, and will be "locked" via Loc-Tite or similar product, then the carbon steel studs and nuts provide the final torque value.

Point being....... I'd look at alternatives before abandoning the studs and going to bolts with 12 point heads!


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It's a 36' Mainship Fly Bridge with the engines under the cabin sole in the salon. Fortunately, the water level never reached the stringers or much of anything electrical. The boat was on the hard and the water entered due to one of the pot metal deck drains corroded from salt water came free from the hose leading to the drain on the transom. Strange, but not a trace of oil in the water that was in the bilge. But I'm not complaining.
I will rethink based on what you say about the flywheel housings. Also, these things are heavy and would be hard to handle without studs to help line them up and support the weight.
Those metal plates look like they may be an index for timing the engines from the flywheel (?), so I'll just grind the heads of the rivets enough to remove them and allow them to be put back on if needed.
I'm seeing some wiring that I'm not familiar with and will no doubt have questions.
Thanks again for replies.

Glad you resolved the fasteners for the starters...

Those "plates" are dual purposed-they are the reference for the timing marks on the flywheel and they also serve at the ID plate having both the model and serial numbers...as far as the covers go, they are, mass wise, very light and are easy to handle....the gears are a different matter.

Finally, the strange wiring is likely associated with the slave solenoid used with starter...

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vintageray said:

I will rethink based on what you say about the flywheel housings. Also, these things are heavy and would be hard to handle without studs to help line them up and support the weight.

If the existing starter motors are heavy, they are likely the Old School non-gear reduction style.

here is an old outdated Delco style.

here is an old outdated Bendix style.
(you do not want the Bendix style)

If you are in there to bring things up to speed..... I would strongly recommend going to today's stronger, lighter weight, less Amp hungry HTGR/PMGR starter motors.
(example only)

Those metal plates look like they may be an index for timing the engines from the flywheel (?), so I'll just grind the heads of the rivets enough to remove them and allow them to be put back on if needed.
Make sure that each plate is re-installed in the same flywheel cover, and in the exact same location.

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Update: I got the starter off of my starboard engine and replaced it with a reduction gear starter. 7 pounds vs 23 and five minute installation.
I'll start another thread on bringing the 270's back to life as there is a lot I'm doing that may be of interest to others and questions that I will no doubt have.