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sno trac gear reduction starters

Snowtrac Nome

Snowtrac Nome

member formerly known as dds
iAs you all know i drive the pi$$ out of my little snow trac the 6 volt starters arn't cutting the crap i go through about 1 per year and have to order it in now it has taken a dump again. i have beenn looking at these new gear reduction starters on line and they look cool you can even get a 12 volt starter with a 6 volt pinion on it. thing is it looks like fitment between the varriator parts might be a little tight. like Big Al i'm tight but i don't mind spending good money on quality. but 200 bucks plus freight i want to know if it will fit has any of you all snow trac owners tried a gear reduction starter if so what brand are you using.
 
That yellow trac master has one. (when i get back home) I will crawl in there and see what if any name is on it. Tuesday I will be home.

Mike
 
I've got one on my old 455 Pontiac to clear the road race oil pan. With the stock one you couldn't pull the starter without lifting the engine. The new reduction unit was able to be "clocked" to position it so it wouldn't touch anything else. Very different sound, but cranks faster than a stock unit does.

Go for it! If you find the right one....

Regards, Kirk
 
i don't understand why you go through them. I have to 1200cc and and a six volt starter with 12 volt solinoid. It has been good to me.
i may be able to get you a original starter crank nut.I seen one tucked away at a guys house that use to have many snow tracs. Oh,you have the 1600 don't you?
 
*This is an attempt at humor

"Don has that seasonal/balmy warm salty air coming in off the bering sea. maybe that is eating up his starters?"

Mike
 
thanks Mike the weather rather sucks this year but trying to crank them at - 10 or colder puts a real strain o the starters up quick
 
Hey Don, I jammed my head in there this AM trying to ge a photo, No luck on a quality photo.

However the starter is a Bosch.
it appears to have a clamping style bracket to hold it in there.
the solenoid is clocked way out of the way of the Variator.
and I can't really gauge the engine speed as this machine starts very quickly regardless of temp.
I have not rolled it over below -10F yet but sounds like we will be there soon.

Mike
 
Maybe, it is tiny/smaller relative to the camo machine I wonder if the camo is a 6V?

Mike
 
the cammo is 6 volt all the gear reduction starters i have seen advertised are either nipiondenso or mitsubisi style
 
If your rig has been converted from 6v to 12v, but are still using the 6v starter (which will work for about a year, BTW), I am not aware of any gear reduction starters designed to run on 6v. If it's still a 6v system, and 6v starter, maybe find a new Robert Bosch starter. My buddy Steve at Wolfgang International, Redding CA should be able to help source one for you. Or try Matt Kinney at Air-Cooled Research in Paso Robles CA, he specializes in the older vw's, is a bit of a penny-pincher himself.

A 12v gear reduction starter used on sandrails for instance, will bolt up, but won't mesh properly with the flywheel teeth on a 6v flywheel.

You probably already know this, but the 6v flywheel is different (diameter and tooth pitch) than that of the 12v flywheel, making the 12v starter incompatible with the 6v flywheel, and vis versa. If you changed out your flywheel, 6v flywheel and clutch for that of a 12v during the off-season, your options are pretty wide open.

There is a 12v gear reduction starter available, it's brand escapes me right now, but it's bulkier than stock VW, and $250. I had one on one car, it worked fine. If space turns out to be an issue and the GR starter won't fit, VW starters come in lots of different flavors and combinations. They made a self-supporting starter that VW used in the auto-stick cars and on early Porsche 911, still available from Robert Bosch. It became popular because of it's with 1/3hp (for reference, a normal non-self-supported VW starter puts out about 1/10hp) I use one of those on my 14:1 compression 2332cc VW racecar. Never a problem spinning it over. But then again, I never tried it at 10 below freezing!
 
i have a special hybred fly wheel which alows me to use a 180 mms starter/6 volt starter with the 200 mm clutch and, also allowing it to properly pilot on the crank shaft of the 1600.the system is all 12 volt except the starter and yes about once a year i have to replace it. i did this so i didn't have to clearance the old bell housing ,the new one i have now has already been clearanced for he larger fly wheel .because of the cold temps i wanted to try a gr. starter kenedy engineering and some other places sell denso type starters that have a 12 volt motor and 6 volt drive. they are expensive but well worth it if they will fit the starters in snow tracs look kind of jerry rigged, as they have to clock the solenoid to 12:00 to clear the varriator, and are held in with clamps.most of the snow tracs in to the early 70's used 12 volt generators with 6 volt starters as snow tracs power packs were built out of surplus vw parts.as i live up in nome alaska every thing is mail order or i would just change the fly wheel and starter to a 12 volt model. but cranking with aero shell oil still puts a huge strain on the starter.
 
dds said:
i have a special hybred fly wheel which alows me to use a 180 mms starter/6 volt starter with the 200 mm clutch and, also allowing it to properly pilot on the crank shaft of the 1600.the system is all 12 volt except the starter and yes about once a year i have to replace it. i did this so i didn't have to clearance the old bell housing ,the new one i have now has already been clearanced for he larger fly wheel .because of the cold temps i wanted to try a gr. starter kenedy engineering and some other places sell denso type starters that have a 12 volt motor and 6 volt drive. they are expensive but well worth it if they will fit the starters in snow tracs look kind of jerry rigged, as they have to clock the solenoid to 12:00 to clear the varriator, and are held in with clamps.most of the snow tracs in to the early 70's used 12 volt generators with 6 volt starters as snow tracs power packs were built out of surplus vw parts.as i live up in nome alaska every thing is mail order or i would just change the fly wheel and starter to a 12 volt model. but cranking with aero shell oil still puts a huge strain on the starter.
Click to expand...

I'm familiar with that flywheel, a similar one originally came on pre-'67 VW busses, 6v with 200mm clutch, to handle the extra weight of the bus. Back in the day, it was real popular with some of the penny-pincher sand buggy guys, as they could used cast-off 6v generators and starters and still have a 200mm clutch, as opposed to the light-duty 180mm one that was standard on the pre-'67 6v bugs, ghias, and earlier bus.

I was not aware of a 6v gear format, 12v motor, gear reduction stater being available... good to know. I have some vintage performance friends doing the 36hp Challenge at Bonneville that might be interested in that as an option.

If you need a good source of hard parts, new and used, my buddy Steve Phillips at Wolfgang International is the 'the man'. He's one of the owners, and unlike most businesses these days, he answers the phones. For the oddball stuff needed for snow machines with VW engines, Steve is that 'get it right the first time' sort of guy. He will ask you a ton of questions before selling you parts, wanting to ship what you need, not just what he sells. Trust me, I've dealt with the SoCal parts houses, for the oddball stuff I call Steve first. Enough of me plugging one of my favorite shops... :smile:
 
i think i have dealt with him he didn't want to fudge on the way he shippped ups or fed ex only .up here my stuff must come us mail when possable as my muffler cost almoste as much to ups as the purchace price was.
 
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