west bend starter nut

[Mark Sousa]

Looking for a starter nut for my west bend 820...can't seem to locate one...please point me in the right direction... thanx

[DEAN KANOCZ]

Looking for a starter nut for my west bend 820...can't seem to locate one...please point me in the right direction... thanx

Jim Waltz has them for sale. Also check with Chuck Giacobe.

[Jim Waltz]

Ok, two things here.

First, we are assuming that the 820 is a CW (clockwise) rotation when viewed from the PTO or drive end.

You can confirm this by looking at the threads on the end of the crank - assuming also that the engine has a standard kart crank (9/16 stepped to 5/8 where the keyway is for the clutch).

Now, since it is lefthand thread, if you go to apply a starter to that, the nut will spin off the end of the crank.

To fix that, GEM (and folks like myself) made special nuts that are 7/16 lefthand threaded on one end and 5/16 (might be 3/8?) righthand threads on the other end.

You run the nut down on the crank to like 25 ft-lbs with blue LocTite, then stick a 5/16 socket head cap screw into the end of the nut and tighten it nice and tight also with blue LocTite.

You can then take a plug-in starter (like modern karts use) with a 5/16 hex on the end, and you stick that into the socket head cap screw, and away you go.

I have made one of these for myself as at the time I could not find any to buy, and no one on the then Forum could point me to a source.

For some reason they have been available in recent years from GEM, and also from Chuck Giacobbe.

The rest of the story........

I do produce a part related to this (a ball-hex starter shaft adapter), which you can find here on the Forum.  I'll bump it to the top so you can see what I make and sell.  Chuck at one time had a few of these that were made about 10 years ago, but are out of production.  Chuck may be able to sell you both.  If not, I am going to do a little production run later this month, and will have some of my adapters available fairly soon.

Ciao!

---

Here's the GEM starter nut......

This one has a special socket head cap screw that can be spun with a hex driver or a socket on the end of a starter.

You will often see a standard socket head cap screw used instead of this special screw.

[doug tenney]

You could try Brian Jacobson, Viking Kart Products, vkpbrian@gmail.com. He is on E-Bay under kartsmart13. I recommend being specific about what you need. Most common is 7/16-20 LH on one end, 3/8-24 RH on the other, for the PTO side of a RH motor (i.e., rotates CW at the PTO).

Don't buy one of his flywheel-side nuts, unless you want to start from that side. They have the hex broached directly into the nut.

[ted johnson]

Been starting for eight years from flywheel side with GEM (Viking, now) LH thread nut, and a standard impact socket on my starter. I can see no wear on the nut, other than some of the black oxide coating has come off. I have one on the flywheel side of the new engine, and it's working just fine as well. I'm planning to build a stock Libberton 610 next, and I will start it the same way. Assuming you can get to the flywheel side on your kart, the regular one-piece nut will do great. If your starter has to come in at an angle, one of Jimmy Waltz' ball tip drivers will spin it. The point is, you don't need the ball tip driver unless your starter has to come into the flywheel side at an angle. Ted

[Jim Waltz]

I will make one small "correction" to what Teddy says about not needing the ball-hex adapter.

While you may not "need" the adapter, it does give you 25 degrees of angular misalignment with the starter, which makes it much easier for most people to handle the starter (like the girlfriend or wife who isn't completely sure she wants to be there in the first place).

Those of us who have used the adapter will never go back.

It is also great when someone has busted or worn the hex tip on the starter (the reason I got my first one like 12 years ago).  You can repair the starter shaft without having to replace it.  The Bondhus ball-hex tips that are part of the adapter are replaceable and easy to come by.  They do need to be cut to the correct, very short, length to work properly.  They also only work if they are applied to a socket head cap screw or a properly machined starter nut.  Some starter nuts are poorly made and won't work with the ball hex.  Contact me for details if you need them.  One buyer had a problem, and it was because he had a crappy starter nut that did not have an actual hex hole in it.

BTW, I only started making these because I couldn't find them to buy any more.

[Jim Waltz]

There is a GEM nut for sale on Ebay right now.

$35.

Item 253413258633

[Mark Sousa]

Thank you all for your replies and direction...was able to obtain one off ebay

[RANDY DUNCALF]

Thank you all for your replies and direction...was able to obtain one off ebay

MAKE SURE the center bolt makes contact with the crank, i purchased some that did not, took me a while to figure that problem out.

[Jim Waltz]

Mark,

What Randy indicates may not be at all obvious to you.

The hex nut goes onto the crank. LocTite and torque.

Then you insert the screw into the end of the long hex nut. Also with blue LocTite.

The socket head screw must then be tightened so the end of the screw bottoms out against the end of the crank.

It SHOULD NOT bottom out because the shoulder of the screw is hitting the hex nut.

Comprende?