Dear 74-454     You seem to be adding to the myth that starts out
stating that the first thing you need to do when working on a Corvette
is to disassemble the entire car... LOL... It does seem that way alot I will admit BUT !!!!!

You have a big block...and none of my Corvettes are BB's... but I do have headers ...and to be honest I  do not see why you would have to remove them to get to the starter...that would be a major pain in the rear...    And I have NEVER taken the wheel off to gain space..it is no where close to where you will be laying on your back...

That replacement solenoid may not help....the spring may be the same strenght as the original... but for 12 bucks I most likely would have
opened my wallet also...

I can replace the solenoid spring in maybe 30 minutes on any of my Corvettes...from the time I walked out the back door of the house till I
walked back into the house...AND I AM NOT FAST....   If the headers
present "any" problem I would go the route of mounting a remote selenoid...

Strange but this problem could have been solved and completely eleminated by GM 40 years ago....wonder why they mounted it on the starter?  must save money ...Ford had a better idea...

Lots of luck...

Bob

OH NO..... I think I still have one more of those springs in the garage
but honestly I can not tell them apart from the originals...

This being Friday.... that means I can not talk to my parts manager and find out what he has to say... A quick look on the internet also showed no results ... The part was located in the GM parts book under
                  Springs Group # 2
         &nbs p;        Part number 1958679 

     Guess I will have to have my local dealer do a search of other dealers andd see if he can get me another spare...


I can see why they discontinued it...had to be a hot selling item..lol
But when something works and has proven it works over an extended period of time...seems somebody should make a replacement..

Lots of Luck...

Bob Griffiths
.

A remote solenoid won't help you if the solenoid on the starter won't work.  You still need to engage the starter. 

Thees ees true, BUT......It does require that the solenoid be in working condition. What you have to do is:
Take the purple wire (12v from ign switch) off of the solenoid. Make ajumper to go from the batt. term on the sol. to where you took the purple wire off. Extend the purple wire to where-ever you mount the remote sol. Then do the same with the cable from the batt. to the starter; it needs to be put on the new sol. Then run a new cable from the remote sol. down to the starter, and you're done. While it may not make sense that this would work, because you're still using the sol. on the starter, beleive me, it does work! I've used this setup on every BB drag car, drag boat, sprint car, wrecker, etc. I've ever driven, and I've never had to drown the starter to cool it off enough to start!

That curved piece goes on the top hole of the started motor. The long bolt that goes through the motor winding should have a stud on the end of it. you have probably seen this bolt on starters and wondered what it was for, the other end bolts to the side of the block. The flat piece with the bend in it has a hole in it and it should line up with the hole in the middle of the other piece and cover, a small sheet metal screw holds the two together and it covers the side of your starter solenoid.

I agree it does work.  It's due to the voltage drops through the system.   I just didn't want anyone to go that way alone with a solenoid problem.  That would be frustrating.

Good description Joel. 

Congrats on finding at least part of the 'Holy grail' of Corvettedom!!
Most likely you have melted a fuse-link at the starter. Does anything work? Headlights, horn, etc., or will it just not start? If everything is dead now, you're gonna have to locate the fuse-links in the wiring about 6-8 inches up from the starter, and check to see if they are good or blown. Use a test light or a voltmeter, and test on both sides of the link(s). If you find power on the starter side, but not on the other side of the link, then that link is blown. A fuse link is a small, round 'fuse' in the wiring, covered with a soft rubbery like thing. It will be about 1-1 1/2' long, sometimes black, sometimes tan/white, always a PITA!!! They can be cut out and the remaining wires tied together just to get you down the road, but considering your luck , I would just go ahead and get new fuse-links to put back in. You can get them at most parts houses. There are a couple of the fuse links at the junction block on the driver's side fenderwell too, I think. Look and see if your car has any there, and if so, check those while you're at it. I hope you get 'er going soon, it's that time -o- year!!! Cruizin weather!! BTW......You need to determine WHY the fuse-link(s) blew, before you repeat the same thing. Check your wiring on the starter carefully(well..duh! ). You may have made a simple mistake that you will see when you check it out. Don't get too frustrated, we've ALL been there!!!

And if it is a fusiable link, make sure you use the EXACT same size gauge and length.  Other wise it will not be properly protected and allow something to fry, or may be over protected and blow too easily.