First Sign of Life! - The Starter Motor Works!

 It's surprising to look back on automotive history and realize that at the turn of the previous century there was a competition for the automotive future.  The three contenders were steam (!), battery electric, and internal combustion engine.  These different types were sold by hundreds of companies in fairly equal volumes for years.  Of course, you know the end of the story is 100+ years of dominance by the ICE.  Why did it win out?  One big plus was the availability of fuel from the kerosene infrastructure.  That highlights the charging infrastructure challenge faced by today's battery electric vehicles.  But the big breakthrough that turned the tide, was the invention of the starter motor by Charles Kettering.  

Incidentally, Kettering was from near Dayton, OH, which the Wright brothers claimed made them able to fly since they were from the center of invention in the United States.  Kettering also attended The Ohio State University, earning a degree in electrical engineering.  He earned 186 US patents and put far more of them into production than I have!

And the starter on my 2006 Mazda RX-8 engine, is basically identical to his original patent.  That does not, however, make it any easier to incorporate into a 1967 MGB!

As you can see, I had to modify some sheet metal to fit the bell housing and starter. That is not my strength but it should hold.  I later discovered that I had committed the sin I blamed many engineers for while working on cars.  I had forgotten to allow space to insert the bolts for the starter motor!  Fortunately, I managed it by reversing the long bolt and using a magnet on a stick to hold the nut in place to get the threads started.  I then worked an open end wrench onto the nut and was able to tighten it. 

I then had to study how relays work and find the wire in BB's electrical system that would close the starter relay.  Since BB's electrical system is a tiny shadow of a modern car's, this was not too difficult.  In fact, BB has two fuses: one for always on loads and one for loads switched on with the ignition key.  The RX-8 has 50 fuses and relays!  And that's a 15 year old car.  I hesitate to look at a modern car!

I had to make the following primitive sketch to understand relay terminals.

I'm not sure which contacts came before 85, considering that there are only 4 but in any case I made it work.

Behold the beautiful, simple, starter motor!  BB's original starter is actually closer to the patent.  It has a Bendix.  When you bring current to the motor, it starts to rotate and pushes a gear down a shaft with a long thread.  The gear (hopefully) engages with the ring gear on the flywheel and cranks the engine.  The RX-8 has the latest design where a solenoid throws the gear into mesh with the ring gear.  I'm hoping this reduces the number of times I turn the key and hear nothing before it finally grabs.  This has been up to 20 tries in various places!  That brings a certain suspense to every outing...

I'm eager to see what happens when I crank the engine and have the ignition connected!  Stay tuned and keep having #funwithcars!