The subject car here is a '66 Starfire with HEI, internally regulated alternator, big block Olds with 2021 AGM battery. Stock engine more or less, qjet, nothing exotic at all.

Over the past few drives, I had a hard hot-start condition and didn't want to get stuck on the road.

I knew the starter was aging. I found out tonight it was AC/Delco brand from 2017. So it's 8 years old on a car that sits half the year. After sitting for a few weeks, the starter has to spin the engine long enough to pump fuel into the carb, unlike a daily use car, so I picked up a PowerMaster starter on recommendation of the learned people here at C/O. The Powermaster starter came with a new solenoid, 2 shims and new bolts. Good for them - that's really a pretty complete kit.

So I swapped in the new starter for old tonight. Not hard. As I get older (now 61) they feel heavier than they did. But it's just me getting weaker.

I replaced the 1/32" shim with new as the old one had and there were no ugly noises on testing, so I think I have the clearance right. As always the new starter sounds different from the old, but that's normal.

Here's the savings part ---
I disconnected the battery to do the job like you're supposed to. I cleaned & shined all the electrical contact surfaces with a dremel for maximum starting voltage. I snugged up the heavy and light wire leads after cleaning nice & tight.

I found my battery connections were not super tight. Snug, yeah, sorta, but not torqued down. So I used my 1/2" socket to crank the battery terminal leads and the 7/16"'s to tighten the crimps on top of the battery leads.

So - if you want to save a few $$, check your battery, terminal junction block and other leads for tightness before throwing $$ at a new starter.

I'm completely happy to have a new PowerMast starter motor in the car, but wondering if I could have cured the hot start condition with a little tightening.

Hope this helps,
Chris