Marie,did the starter always have the heat shields on it from when it was new so it was never fried from too much header heat?
Is the starter a Hi/Torque unit that has a Hi/trq armature for sure? Some times cheap rebuilts have a std low trq armature in a hi trq starter case.
Is the solenoid a std replacment or a H/D high temp unit? If not get one.
Do you have a fresh battery with a enough CCA(800+)? If not get a good strong battery with a minimum of 800 CCA(not CA) ,the interstate megatron is approx 800-100CCA depending on application.
If your running a 37 or even 42 amp alt they can be marginal at times especially for quick battery recovery/recharge inbetween mult start situations like gettign gas,then stropping up the street at the store,then stopping to get a video all in 15 mins esp at night with lights on etc. Get a stock gm 55 or 61 amp alt for better battery charging.
Ensure all grounds,cables,wires etc for the starting/charging/electrical system are claen with no paint(from restoration)/corrosion where the cables/wires attach. This also applies to where the main wire for the electrical stsyem hooks to the junction block and throught he horn relay too.
Another thing is,our chevelle usually do a fair amount of sitting because they are not daily drivers and an avg car battery can loose approx 3-4% of its power/charge wkly just sitting which will also affect how well the car with start hot. For example, if the battery is partially discharged after sitting a wk or 2 it should start ok cold but 20-25 mins later after sitting in stop/go traffic with the starter heat soaking and alternator spending a lot of time at idle not charging much (especisally at night with lights on) further discharges the battery with out some crsuie time up to speed. Then you decide to stop for gas with the battery in an even further discharged state from what it was when you 1st started the motor 20-25 mins prior to stopping for gas.
Now stop to think about this senario that has just been setup,20-25 mins ago you started the motor cold with a partially discharged battery from sitting for 1-2 wks discharging it even more with the cold start. Then you proceeded to be stuck in stop/go traffic where the motor did a lot of idling for almost no decent charging of the battery to take place (eps with 37 or 42 amp alt)and then on top of that getting the starter all heated up too. Now you shut it down and try to restart it 3-5 mins later with a partially discharged battery and heat soaked started,get the picture?
There is abosulutely no need to adapt a Ford solenoid to your gm car if you setup your stock gm starting system correctly. For example my 69 396 with 10:0 compression & 220 psi static cranking comp(OUCH!!) running 18 deg initial timing ALWAYS starts fine when heat soaked with a bone stock gm (HI TRQ) starter & starting system. This is even with a 6 yr old Delco repro batery that had 750 CCA when new which has to have loost a little umph/amps after 6yrs but it still starts the motor ok hot.
But i made sure to start out with a rebuilt hi trq starter with a heat resistant solenoid with H/d spring & heat sheild too. I also had the stock inadequate 37amp alt rbl & upgradded to put out approx 70-80 amps,stock D635 regualtor was still fine when i tested it so i reused it. I bought the new delco repro battery for the original look with 750CCA which i feel is marginal but its been ok for 6yrs & counting but i preffer 800+cca for relable starts with most GM performance v8 starting applications. I installed the smaller stock type battery cables to to retain the stock appearance along with cleaning all the electrical system connections as i mentioned above. Some people say the smaller stock type battery cables are NG & contribute to hot start issues but i have not had any issues with them in the 6+ yrs i have had them.
This is important too,I do also keep an inexspnsive 1.5 amp float charger/maintainer on the battery at all times so i always start out with a fully charged battery when i take the car out no matter how long its been sitting. (These small float chargers dont use much electric). So get one of these float chargers for your battery but make sure the battery is fully charged with a higher output charger(10-12 amp charger) before hooking the small 1.5 amp float charger on your battery to ensure its fully/deeply charged. Now after that the smaller 1.5 amp float charger can maintain the battery at full charge untill the next time you use the car.
When you add all this up collectively i think you will see how a 30-40 yr old starting system can be a problem at times esp with an inadequate output battery & alternator along with possibly a weak starter & poor connections.
As for the motor heating up ,what are the temps in traffic & while at cruise that make you think its running too hot?
Are you running the following as a base cooling system,a 4 core radiator,stock gm fan shroud,gm 7 blade clutch fan with thermstatic fan clutch,an external trans cooler to take additional heat load off radiator if running auto trans,a hi flow h/perf water pump along with a high flow 180 deg thermostat?
With your perf cam are you running approx 18 deg initial timing & a total of 36-38 deg? If not retarded initial timing can also in crease motor temps especially in stop/go traffic or durring slow speed crusing so keep that in mind too.
Just for example,in traffic 210-215deg f for short periods & 200-205 deg f while @ cruise are the MAXIMUM TEMPS I WOULD ACCEPT with a BBC on a 80-85 deg f day. But,i would prefer to see 10-15 deg f lower temps then those if it were my car with a BBC.
Scott
