Starter and caulk seal between starter and flywheel backing plate?

[Doug J.]

Last time the car was judged, I lost points because there was "no caulk seal" I would imagine he was refering to the area between the starter and the flywheel backing plate. Has anyone ever heard of this "caulk seal" anywhere on or near this area. It says nothing about a caulk seal.....and alot of other stuff for that matter, in the TIM&JG. PS: just a simple question, if something is not mentioned in the manual....why are we judged on it?

[Terry M.]

Re: Starter and caulk seal between starter and flywheel backing plate?

Caulk seal is between the solenoid and starter and covers the small opening where the lever pivots between those two units. It is like a rope caulk, not what comes out of a tube.

No manual could be large enough to contain all the items that could potentially be judged -- thus there are numerous items not mentioned in the manual that a judge can assess. How many points did you lose for the lack of caulk?

[Joe L.]

Re: Starter and caulk seal between starter and flywheel backing plate?

Caulk seal is between the solenoid and starter and covers the small opening where the lever pivots between those two units. It is like a rope caulk, not what comes out of a tube.

No manual could be large enough to contain all the items that could potentially be judged -- thus there are numerous items not mentioned in the manual that a judge can assess. How many points did you lose for the lack of caulk?

Terry and Doug-------

A sealer was originally used between the solenoid and starter nose as Terry describes. However, a sealer was also used at the interface of the starter and clutch cover plate. The sealer used for both applications was similar. The same sealer was used quite a few places on the body. Did every, single car built receive this sealer at the starter? I don't know.

[Timothy B.]

Re: Starter and caulk seal between starter and flywheel backing plate?

The sealer I used on my 63 starter was 3m ultra black, I realize rtv type sealers were not available but never thought a rope type sealer was used at the starter. My thinking is that something like the windshield sealer would have been used.

[Doug J.]

Re: Starter and caulk seal between starter and flywheel backing plate?

Would it be the type of a rope caulk that you might use to seal the connection of cast iron drainage drain pipe in your home....before PVC pipe ?

[Patrick H.]

Re: Starter and caulk seal between starter and flywheel backing plate?

I used 3M Strip Calk, and it was a dead nuts on replacement for what I removed from an original car.

[Paul J.]

Re: Starter and caulk seal between starter and flywheel backing plate?

Would it be the type of a rope caulk that you might use to seal the connection of cast iron drainage drain pipe in your home....before PVC pipe ?

No. You are talking about a rope impregnated with a type of plumber's putty. The 3M Strip Caulk that Patrick mentions, or something similar, is what you want.

Paul

[Timothy B.]

Re: Starter and caulk seal between starter and flywheel backing plate?

Here is a picture of a 1107320 starter I purchased at Carlisle two years ago.

[Don L.]

Re: Starter and caulk seal between starter and flywheel backing plate?

Thanks for this thread, Doug!

I lost 1 of 12 originality points in 2011 (Novi National) for "missing sealant". I haven't looked into this but do have it on my "to do" list. Since I already have the 3M strip caulk, I would like correct my set up when the weather breaks here in Michigan. Does anyone have a photo of what the caulk should look like when in place (both locations)? FWIW, mine is a '72 small block, 4 spd.

[Doug J.]

Re: Starter and caulk seal between starter and flywheel backing plate?

Your very welcome Don...great picture's Tim...Thank you all for your help, looks like the 3M Strip Caulk would be the way to go.

[Patrick H.]

Re: Starter and caulk seal between starter and flywheel backing plate?

Does anyone have a photo of what the caulk should look like when in place (both locations)? FWIW, mine is a '72 small block, 4 spd.

Well duh!

Starter closeup.jpg

You can see a bit of it still there, but mostly the residue mark left from where the sealant originally lived.
Pressing a nice line of sealant around the hole and then just jamming the starter in place would exactly mimic what the UAW guys did 40 years ago.

Patrick

[Don L.]

Re: Starter and caulk seal between starter and flywheel backing plate?

Well duh!

[ATTACH=CONFIG]43678[/ATTACH]

You can see a bit of it still there, but mostly the residue mark left from where the sealant originally lived.
Pressing a nice line of sealant around the hole and then just jamming the starter in place would exactly mimic what the UAW guys did 40 years ago.

Patrick

Yep. Figured you'd have one Patrick. Thanks to Tim and to you as well for the pics. I'm on it.

And I was running out of projects for the winter...

[Terry M.]

Re: Starter and caulk seal between starter and flywheel backing plate?

Would it be the type of a rope caulk that you might use to seal the connection of cast iron drainage drain pipe in your home....before PVC pipe ?

Rope caulk is available at your local hardware store, and maybe even the big box stores. It is used for sealing gaps around windows and doors. I suppose this might be harder to find in the warmer climes, but one living there might want to seal those gaps to keep out creepy crawly things. Here in the north land we turn to this material at this time of year.

The 3M strip caulk may be longer lasting and more appropriate for an automotive application, but it is far less commonly available especially in black.

Aside from judging reasons that caulk serves a very functional purpose, keeping liquid, mud and debris out of the starter to solenoid linkage -- not that any of us would drive our Corvettes in an area where those materials could get into the linkage and render the starter useless.

[Dave S.]

Re: Starter and caulk seal between starter and flywheel backing plate?

Several years ago I had a bunch of NOS #338 starters that were in a chicken wire bin labeled St. Louis assembly plant. They had Dec 1969 and Feb 1970 dates on them as i recall. Arttached are a couple of photos of the caulk between the solonoid and the starter case. The presence or lack of that has always been judged as long as I've been involved.

[Clem Z.]

Re: Starter and caulk seal between starter and flywheel backing plate?

Rope caulk is available at your local hardware store, and maybe even the big box stores. It is used for sealing gaps around windows and doors. I suppose this might be harder to find in the warmer climes, but one living there might want to seal those gaps to keep out creepy crawly things. Here in the north land we turn to this material at this time of year.

The 3M strip caulk may be longer lasting and more appropriate for an automotive application, but it is far less commonly available especially in black.

Aside from judging reasons that caulk serves a very functional purpose, keeping liquid, mud and debris out of the starter to solenoid linkage -- not that any of us would drive our Corvettes in an area where those materials could get into the linkage and render the starter useless.

here is what we did back in the day with our corvettes. no this is not me but i have run my corvette on frozen deep creek lake and in a field at a "sod-o-cross" a dirt auto cross http://www.chevyhardcore.com/news/vi...g-in-the-snow/