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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Refitting Starter Motor

I've just come in from an evening doing battle with the Sprite's starter motor.

The starter motor gave up the last of its pinion teeth the weekend before last. When I took it off, I was more than a bit surprised to find that the bottom bolt was missing! It's completely out of sight from all normal lines of sight - well, that's my excuse for not noticing, I haven't had to touch the starter since I got the car.

I duly ordered the replacement from my local factor and had a go at fitting it on Monday evening. No matter what I tried, the bottom bolt wouldn't go in. The penny finally dropped and I compared old and new and found a 1/2" difference in the distance between mounting holes.

Back to the factors - I'd asked for an RLS101 but received an RLS102 - but by Remy so coded differently. Of course, the RLS 101 was more expensive! I'm just glad I went to a local supplier who knows me rather than buying online.

Having struggled to get the bolts in on Monday, a flash of inspiration struck while trying to get to sleep the other night - R clips. The first thing I did before offering up the motor tonight was fit the bolts and washers, and hold them in place with R clips as shown in the photo. Then I mounted the motor and fitted the nuts. When I was sure the nuts were properly on the threads, I pulled the R clips out and carried on tightening.

Tightening the bottom bolt seemed to take an eternity, but nothing like as bad as trying to get the small distributor mounting screws back in place!

Did you spot the not-deliberate mistake in the photo? Yes, I did have to take the motor off again to sort it out! :(


C Mee

Do you mean the earth strap - is that an earth strap at the bottom of the photo - or that you have washers between the starter and the backplate?
Dave O'Neill 2

The flat washers don't belong there, between the backing plate and the starter. I've always installed the starter with the bolts coming in from the front of the car (opposite of the way you have them). I'm not saying that that is the right way, just easier for me.
Martin

Clever trick, thanks for sharing.
Malcolm Le Chevalier

Well spotted Dave.

That was the other non-deliberate mistake.

Thankfully I spotted it before I went much further and it was easier to fix than the other error.
C Mee

Yes, the R-clip trick is a great idea.

I used mole-grips when refitting my front crossmember, but they are obviously quite wide, so not much thread protrudes.

Dave O'Neill 2

This thread was discussed between 05/09/2018 and 07/09/2018

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