[LeftFieldEngineering]

About a year or so ago I re-powered my tractor with a good ole 1985 Briggs & Stratton 16hp opposed twin. It's worked great until recently when it began to start slower & slower. The battery I was using had come with the tractor and I have no idea of its age. Combine that with fact I use it to power my 3pt hitch winch so I figured replacing the battery was a good place to start. After replacing the battery the staring was better, but still not "good". I've done quite a bit of testing & checking of the electrical system and I've narrowed it down to the starter. I've rebuilt starters before, new brushes & a good cleaning will bring most of them back. Before I go out and spend 20 bucks on a brush kit I have another 12v starter from a 2000 something Briggs & Stratton v-twin. If you take a look at the pictures below you will clearly see that the mounting brackets are different, but if you look closer you will see that the body, starter gear look very similar. Has anyone every tried to interchange the internals on these starters?

Starter in my opposed twin:

Starter from a v-twin:

 

[RED-85-Z51]

remove the starter case bolts, hold the bottom of the starter otgether, lift off the top plate (assuming the drives are removed) and swap the top plate...assemble.

The only important thing is that the case isnt any longer on the V-twin one.

 

[LeftFieldEngineering]

Sounds good, I'll have to give it a shot when I get home. If the cases are longer I'll hope that the lower cap containing the brushes is interchangeable and I can just swap that. Worst case it's $15-20 for a rebuild kit or $45-70 for a new starter. Though it would be nice to put that v-twin starter to use seeing as I've had it in the drawer for 2 years.

 

[LeftFieldEngineering]

I didn't have a chance to pull the starter last night, but I did check the length. The v-twin starter is like 7/8-1" longer then the one that's in there now. I don't know if it'll be an issue though, the only thing it would interfere with is the sheet metal heat cover which could easily be modified. Actually I'd love to get it to fit, that larger starter would give me the extra umph to get her started on cold days.

We'll see this weekend.

 

[Walt 2002]

"The only important thing is that the case isnt any longer on the V-twin one."

??

Makes no difference as far as my experience has been. Difference in length often is only related to difference in mfg.

Walt Conner

 

[LeftFieldEngineering]

Thanks Guys. I mean this one seems pretty straight forward. They look similar, no obstructions, lets give it a shot. Its not like I'm swapping crank shafts here. At this point the project intellectual curiosity then monetary savings. I'll check it out this weekend & if I think of it snap some pix.

 

[RED-85-Z51]

"The only important thing is that the case isnt any longer on the V-twin one."

??

Makes no difference as far as my experience has been. Difference in length often is only related to difference in mfg.

Walt Conner

I had a Briggs opposed twin that I did a parts starter build up on and the case was physically too long, it was hitting a part of the block under the starter and could not be installed flush.

 

[LeftFieldEngineering]

Sorry for the delay, I've spent the last week cleaning up after the 12" of sticky/heavy snow which downed every tree & power line in the area.

I'm pleased to say that the frankin-starter project was a success. After removing all the shrouds & taking a quick look at the block I didn't see any obstructions. Removing the c-clip, gear assembly and top of my v-twin starter was easy. However getting the roll pin out of the original starter was quite the task. 3 punches, 4 drill bits & an sawzall later I was able to remove the top cap from the opposed twin starter. Just like we expected the caps were interchangeable and instillation was quick and easy. An added benifit of the larger starter is BOY does it start, I mean before it used to crank and crank, probably 4-5 revolutions before it roared to life. Now, I can't get off the key quick enough, >1 revolution and the motor is purring like a kitten.

Parts: 1986 Opposed twin starter, 2000's V-Twin starter.
Cost: $0 (salvaged v-twin starter)
Time: 1 hr
Outcome: WIN