Mini Starters on a Slant Six

slantsixdan said
Nope, that's a totally different starter with a totally different bolt pattern, not interchangeable.

There is no mystery about what fits and what doesn't, so no need to rely on what people are rumored to have been heard to think about saying. '88-'03 3.9 V6, 5.2 and 5.9 V8 in RWD/4WD Dodge trucks and vans. The units after about '93 are even smaller than the '88-'92 units.

Be sure and get a genuine starter with a Chrysler, Denso, or Nippondenso nameplate on it. The Chinese copycats flooding the market (advertised at parts stores as "100% new!") are junk. A used genuine starter from a wrecking yard is preferable to a new fake/Chinese or "remanufactured" starter.

If you need to rejigger the connections to get adequate clearance for your battery cables or other parts, that info is here.

And if that starter doesn't get you enough clearance with your headers (or Hyper-Pak, or DDDs), then you can get even more clearance with slightly more work by using the '05-'07 Dodge Ram 5.7 V8/Manual-trans starter described and pictured (with video, even) here and here.

Hi
I have just joined the forum and have been searching around a bit for some of the problems that I have been having. My car is a Canadian 1964 Valiant convertible with a slant six. It looks like I have already made at least one mistake-I bought a set of Clifford headers. The fit is definitely not bolt on. The rear header had a starter conflict so I got one of the mini starters that were mentioned-1991 D150 318. Unfortunately I don't think it will work. The pinion goes in a quarter inch shy of the flywheel compared to the stock starter so it does not engage to turn the engine. Plus I can't return it now because I had to ream out the lower hole to fit the stud. Is there another I can try?
Others on the forum mention they are using Clifford headers. Besides the rear header problem I have just mentioned the front header is just crazy. How have others made it fit? I have been back and forth a bit with a Larry at Clifford and so far his only advice is to start with loosening the bolts.
That is no help because before bolts come near to being involved there is the much bigger problem of the header and the steering box wanting to occupy the same space at the same time. There is no wiggle room or any other way to route the header that I can see. With the header resting on the steering box there is about a quarter of an inch of space at the bottom of the flange. With the header raised enough to clear the steering box this gap increases of course. The only solution that I can see is to cut the header about half an inch past the mounting flange and fishmouth in a wedge shaped piece of pipe on all three pipes. Even this would mean at the collector making an immediate 90 degree turn towards the engine and another 90 downward all to narrowly miss the steering column. I have emailed pictures to this Larry guy to show him what I mean but I haven't heard anything back yet. I see what you guys are saying about Clifford. WOW. Has anyone else had these fitment issues.