what starter for t-5 conversion

68dustin

Member
Oct 8, 2008
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i did a t-5 conversion on my 68 from a 89 mustang 3 years ago. My motor is balanced out to 28 oz so i have the correct flywheel for it. Whats a good starter to use, it seems like my starters are wearing out pretty fast. I keep exchanging my stupid autozone junk, but i wanna buy a dependable starter. any suggestions?

sbf 302
 
I have been using a autolite remanufactured one from kragen or maybe it was from autozone with no problems for a long time.

Im using a 5.0 manual trans starter from a fox body era in my 69 302
 
I have a rebuilt Motorcraft from Autozone. The thing is that most autoparts stores have the part numbers wrong. I had to get one for an Automatic. It actually is the one for a Manual shift. Its been about 6 years, so hopefully yours would last a while.
 
im gonna stay away from the auto zone and kragen starter, nothing but bad luck. My battery is good, the last starter i had from them fell apart at the track last week. So i had to put another kragen in it to get it home. So it sounds like the powermaster works the best. Does it matter what year you get it for? sounds like the 68 with a auto c4 fits right in as well? Or should i go with 87-93 standard trans starter? My motor is a bit on the higher compression so im thinking thats why ive been killing stock starters.
 
I have used the Powermaster and been very happy but! Get one for a early car. The late model ones fit fine but the soleniod works differently. It must have power to it all the time or it will not retract the pinion gear from the fly wheel once the car starts.
 
FWIW one time I was told that "Rebuilt" can mean repaired and not totally rebuilt. I had a parts store tell me that the rebuilders just replace whatever is wrong with it and clean it up and resell it. I dont know if thats true but they also had two different price points on the same starter depending on how you wanted it.

Years ago I ended up taking an older unit to an "Auto-electric" shop and had it rebuilt right in front of me, and unless your windings are junk you may be surprised how cheap new brushes, bearings and a turn on a lathe can cost.

Same goes for alternators.