Gear Driven starter for boat?
 

I was having trouble with my starter last seaason. I need to replace it. I have a gear driven starter off a C5 corvette. If you haven't used one, they are amazing: small, light, super powerfull. They'll crank a high compression big block over all day long. I had a friend who always used them on his race boats.

What I'm wondering is what makes a starter safe for a boat? Obviously it has something to do with eliminating the posibility for sparks, but how is that done?

These starters have two small vent tubes coming out the bottom, but no other openings. The tubes are about a quarter inch in diameter and 1.5 in long.

Any thoughts?

As I recollect, Mercruiser uses a marine only flywheel different
in diameter than automotive. They do it so that trying to use
automotive starters on their engines is always a disaster.

Pesky Varmint

There is really only one flywheel option on a BB chev. That is a 14" 168 tooth flywheel. Gm also has a 12 3/4" 153 tooth flywheel that is usually used on small blocks and V6's. I don't know what the vette uses. Not always, but in general, if the starter has a staggered bolt pattern it is for the 153 tooth. If it has an inline bolt pattern, it is for the 168 tooth. You need the 168 tooth design starter. Some starters have both the 153 and 168 tooth patterns. They are both inline patterns. They just have 4 bolt holes.
Eddie

Ok, that throws a new wrench into it. My flywheel is 14 inches in diameter, but the original starter has a stagered bolt pattern. The gear driven starter has an inline bolt pattern. My block is taped for both inline and stagered

Sounds backwards to your description above, as if your post is correct, my original starter is wrong? Any thoughts on that?

What about the safety aspect? If the vent tubes are long enough, does that prevent spark?

The staggered pattern is not always for the 153 tooth. That's why I said in general it is, however it is not always the case. The majority of the staggered patterns are for 153 tooth flywheels though.
I have run and seen numerous people run automotive starters in boats with great success. I'm not saying to do it, however, if you do,you want to put something on the starter to help waterproof it. I use spray in truck bedliner. I spray both marine and non marine starters. You can buy it in a rattle can from the auto parts store. It works great at keeping water out of the starter. Just don't spray the mounting surface where it attaches to the block. If you do. it won't get a ground.
.I don't see where you will have a problem with a vent tube that long. I have seen them run much shorter than that.

Eddie

Can u post a picture of that starter ???????

Here's two pics

thanks.

Carp,
Marine starters and distributors usually have a "screen" of some type over the vents. Although I am not certain, I think that the screen acts like a flame arrestor. If you have a fuel leak, the fumes can get into those vents on your starter and a spark from the commutator will ignite them. But I think the screen keeps any flames from coming out past the vent.

Personally, I would want an approved marine unit if it was mine.

Bill Koustenis
Advanced Automotive Machine
Waldorf md

that starter is for the small flywheel