Ok, I have an 82 bronco w/a 351w out of an 84F150. I have a set of headman headders and these things keep burning up my starter....At least I'm chalking it up to that, could be missing something. To get the starter out I have to completely remove the headers to get to the starter so they are real close. After 2 starters I put a heat shield around the starter, and wrapped my headers w/ exhaust wrap..still eating up starters...

Anyone else having a similar problem?? How'd ya fix it?? Anyone else running the same setup w/o problems I'd like to know. Any advice at this point would help. I'm looking into a different set of headers thinking they may have more clearance but wanted to see if I may be missing something first.

Well you can get a mini starter. They are kind of expensive, but should provide plenty of clearance for a heat sheild.

With that said, I literally had to grind on my starter to make it fit.....I did loose one starter, but I'm 99% sure it was just a bad shucks starter.....imagine that. I put in a used starter and haven't had any problems since.

My headers have that ceramic coating on them, so I think that helps a lot with the heat.

If I can ever afford it, I'm going to use a mini starter.

http://home.earthlink.net/~mattsara/bb/starterclearance.jpg

Could you put some header wrap around the collector right there?

Jet hot coating works good
What brand of header wrap did you put on? some kinds really suck, Just add another layer
Aslo check your timing, your not making those headers turn cherry red are you?

Originally posted by D60
Could you put some header wrap around the collector right there?

header wrap would will void the warranty for my headers, and until I start having problems, I'm not going to mess with it.

Don't remember what brand of header wrap I used, but I do have 2 layers on it. Yes I know the heat wrap voids the warranty, but oh well.

Timing is good, no problem there.

I do have the heat shield around the starter.

Just cannot believe I'm the only one having this setup and this problem. Might have to go w/ a different set of headers w/ a ceramic coating...might be worth the headache.

My collector runs in a totally different location, but I'm running a Heddman Hedders equipped '69 Mustang with a 289. 2 Years, 15,000 miles, and multiple dragstrip passes later, my starter still kicks it over no problem. In my case though, it's only the primaries the are close to the starter.

Something you might consider is the condition/location of the cables that run to the starter. If the cables are corroded, or are getting hot from the headers, it can increase the electrical resistance dramatically. This can translate into the starter not getting the juice it needs, helping kill it before it's time.

Hope this info helps!