Need new Starter

[jep1701]

Hello,

I am new to the whole classic car world. After saving my whole teaching career for a classic, I fell in love with a '73 Mustang Convertible 351w 3 speed automatic that was mostly restored and went all in to get the beauty, back in January. I am also blessed with a friend who is always rebuilding a car, so he has been helping me out since my last car I worked on was in college ('84 Plymouth Duster).  

My question:

I need a new starter. I see some remanufactured from places like O'Reilly's and such places for less that $70. I also see some like Powermaster and other on websites for around $290. Some say it doesn't matter and don't over pay, other say to get the better one. After talking to some people I hear mixed feeling about going either way, so I thought I would come here with people that actually own a Mustang for your all's opinion. 

Any help and input would be appreciated. 

 

[73pony]

Be sure of what motor you have. They never were offered with a 351w in 71-73. They were offered with 302w and 351c. Nice looking ride.

 

[machattack]

Welcome to the forum from Idaho. Your car will turn some heads

As 73 pony says.......make sure its a 351 Windsor and  not a Cleveland. 

My 71 mach had a engine swap when I bought it. It had a 351 Windsor in it. Took me forever to figure that out. I kept buying parts and they wouldnt fit. Felt so damn stupid when I returned them to Orielys saying they dont fit I finally figured it out by the water pump, valve cover bolts and deck height of the heads.

By the way the engine gauge harness wont fit right either. Mine was all hacked up to make it fit a Windsor.

Starter question......... Paying more usually means they are better. Especially the high torque starters.  If its a stock engine and not modified with higher compression?  you can go with the cheaper mid range unit.

 

[Chris Womack]

If you buy starter from auto parts store you may be disappointed, typically foreign products. If you have originally equipped starter then find a shop to rebuild it. The cost will be less and you will have better part.

Not long ago my alternator failed, I inspected part available at local auto parts store and discovered it was produced in china -- casting looked terrible. I found a local shop to repair my OEM part.

 

[NOT A T5]

Welcome from Omaha!

 

[droptop73]

Welcome from west Michigan. I love your car, from one yellow convertible guy to another.

I've used both types of starters with much success. You don't need to spend the money on a powermaster. for most cruiser/driver applications the standard Bendix works great. Most parts stores are very good at standing behind their stuff. I tend to like NAPA it seems to be a bit better quality.

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

Welcome to the Forum from North Carolina. It has already been mentioned that 71 - 73 mustangs did not come with a 351 Windsor engine only the 351 Cleveland. There were Mustangs made in Mexico with the 351 Windsor but no convertibles built there. 

Now you will have to go find the yellow Mustang group and join there also, lol.

 

[goodnigh]

Welcome from northern California.

I got a high torque starter from Summit.

Would go through at least one starter per year.

Your standard starter could not handle the

compression of my Cleveland.

mike

 

[jep1701]

Thanks for all the help and the welcome to the site. I was excited to find this forum.

When I bought the car the paperwork said it was a 351w and I took it for granted. I ran the VIN last night and it said it should have a 6 cyl. So it looks like it it did have an engine swap long ago since it doesn't look recent at all After lots of googling it looks to be a 351c that was placed in it.

Thanks for the heads up as I am learning. After teaching and coaching so long you get very comfortable and always seem to know what is going on- this is a rare occasion to be having to learning so much and feeling a little lost! it is humbling...but fun!

i am glad to have somewhere to come for advice and help. Thanks all!

John

Winter Garden, Florida

 

[secluff]

Hello jep1701,

Don't be concerned with not knowing exactly what engine is in your car. Unless you are the original owner you have no idea what has happened to your vehicle. And until your vert has had a couple of drinks it's not going to tell you. The 351W almost disappeared from the land after the 351C came out in 1970. After the last of the 335 engines (351M, 400) was installed in the E and F series trucks in '82, the 351W once again was the midsize go-to engine. So with such a plentiful and cheap supply of 351W engines to choose from, you can bet plenty of them were transplanted in many different vehicles.

 There are several ways to check the difference between the two engines. I like to keep it simple since some people here have had no previous Ford experience. And...you can do this with your hands in your pockets. Count the valve cover bolts, the 351C has 8 bolts and the 351W has 6. The mounting bolts on the 351C fuel pump are vertical while the bolts on the 351W pump are horizontal.

And...by the way....Hello and welcome to your new Mustang home!

 

[Don C]

One more way to tell, the upper radiator hose thermostat housing sticks straight up out of the block in the Clevelands and comes out of the front of the intake manifold in Windsors. Clevelands have a "dry" intake manifold with the coolant passage crossover in the block and on Windsors the coolant crossover is through the intake manifold.

 

[timsweet]

Be sure of what motor you have. They never were offered with a 351w in 71-73. They were offered with 302w and 351c. Nice looking ride.

According to Ultimate American V-8 Engine Data Book the 351W and 302 were in teh Mustangs, Torinos, Montego and Cougars.

Difference - 351 Windsors use a timing chain cover and the Clevelands' blocks were extended to include the timing chain.

 

[7173Vert]

Be sure of what motor you have. They never were offered with a 351w in 71-73. They were offered with 302w and 351c. Nice looking ride.

According to Ultimate American V-8 Engine Data Book the 351W and 302 were in teh Mustangs, Torinos, Montego and Cougars.

Difference - 351 Windsors use a timing chain cover and the Clevelands' blocks were extended to include the timing chain.

No 351w in the 71-3 Mustang’s.

 

[73pony]

Be sure of what motor you have. They never were offered with a 351w in 71-73. They were offered with 302w and 351c. Nice looking ride.

According to Ultimate American V-8 Engine Data Book the 351W and 302 were in teh Mustangs, Torinos, Montego and Cougars.

Difference - 351 Windsors use a timing chain cover and the Clevelands' blocks were extended to include the timing chain.

No 351w in the 71-3 Mustang’s.

+1

 

[timsweet]

Well I don't know any 351W in a 1973, the book could be wrong.

1971 302 and 351W were available for the Ford Mustang (page 162)

1972 302 and 351W were available for the Ford Mustang (page 162)

1973 shows the same

Those were the Ford 90-degree V8s 1964-1995 (221, 255, 260, 289, 302 and 351 Windsor

For the Cleveland (which I believe is the 335 Series) 351 and 400 that included the Boss 351, Cobra jet 351, 351 HO and the 400 and 351m. (pages 170-171)

Of course the Boss was Mustang only, 3 versions of the 351 were available in 1973 including the CJ and both 1971 and 1972 show 3 versions of the 351 for Mustang including the HO and CJ.

Look at the engine and run the numbers to be sure. It wouldn't be the first time there were some oddities in reference manuals or real life - or a swap after the fact. My 1973 started out as 302 some where along the road a 1972 351C was plopped under the hood. NOT SAD ABOUT THAT!

Tim

 

[73pony]

Your book is wrong. There was NEVER a 351W offered in the 71-73 mustangs.

 

[timsweet]

Your book is wrong. There was NEVER a 351W offered in the 71-73 mustangs.

No offense intended but where does that information come from?

1. It's not my book it's produced by Peter C. Sessler.

2. Peter Sessler is a Classic Car and Muscle Car expert with a recognizable name in the field, and has written more than 40 books over the past 22 years. He has also been Editor-in-Chief of MuscleCars magazine and has personally restored a 1968 Shelby GT 350 and two 1969 Boss 429 Mustangs as well as other muscle cars

Other books:

Mustang Red Book 1964 1/2...

2000

Ford Mustang Red Book (2015)

Ford Mustang Red Book

2015

Ford Mustang Red Book: Specifications, Options, Production Numbers, Data Codes and More (2015)

Ford Mustang Red Boo...

2015

Ultimate American V-8 Engine Data Book 1949-74 (1999)

Ultimate American V‑8 Engi...

1999

Camaro & Firebird Performance Handbook (1993)

Camaro & Firebird Perform...

1993

Tim

 

[73pony]

Never heard of the guy, I'm sure he's prob a smart guy. But if he is publishing that a 351W was offered in a 71-73 mustang he is wrong. They were put in the knockdown kits sent to Mexico for assembly but never offered other than those MX kits. This is directly from ford literature from the time (widely available) as well as the rest of the collective knowledge on this site.

Engines available were....

straight 6

351C (multiple variants of the three year period)

1971

M-Code

Q-Code late in the model year

H-Code

R-Code (IE BOSS)

1972

Q-Code

H-Code

R-Code (slightly different than the 71 Boss)

1973

Q-Code

H-Code

429 (only offered in 1971)

Hope this helps clear it up. And no offense taken.

 

[jpaz]

Peter should buff up on the 71-73’s then, cause he’s wrong! There were 6 cylinder, 302, 351 Cleveland and 429 engines available in the 71-73 Mustangs and that’s it.