The International Cessna^® 170 Association

I am performing an owner-assisted annual on my ‘55B and found a cracked starter switch housing (Delco-Remy starter). It has been difficult locating a definitive replacement part for the cracked housing. Anybody know a replacement for this part?

I have found a few items that look similar to this part but I don’t know if they are compatible. Here is a pic of one of those parts….

Dustin, except for the mounting flange, that starter is essentially the same as used on many vintage tractors. The easiest way to get the switch is at your local NAPA. It's NAPA p/n ST11. You can also get it from vintage tractor parts sources, such as Steiner, but under a different part number. The one in your photo is essentially the same, except it has ears for mounting a starting lever. It would work on your starter, but you don't need the ears and the version without the ears (such as NAPA ST11) is the same as the original on your starter.

Thanks for the info (and for saving me a ton of time trying to figure it all out myself). The fact that parts for this plane are interchangeable with vintage tractors is slightly amusing…

That is NOT a “crack”. it’s a manufacturing part-line and quite normal.

Thanks for the input, George (and for trying to save me a few bucks). I’ll have a look at the new part (arrives at the local Napa Airmotove/Vintage Tractor Parts Supply tomorrow) and see if the manufactured part line matches the current one. If it does match, then I’ll just return it. Here is a photo I took of the “crack”…

darhymes wrote:Thanks for the input, George (and for trying to save me a few bucks). I’ll have a look at the new part (arrives at the local Napa Airmotove/Vintage Tractor Parts Supply tomorrow) and see if the manufactured part line matches the current one. If it does match, then I’ll just return it. Here is a photo I took of the “crack”…

Yep. Looks quite normal. (In fact, if you look closely at the “new part” you depicted earlier you can see it has the same part-line.)

Looks like the manufacturers seam is forward of the screw hole (almost looks like you can see a faint line there) whereas the crack appears to be aft of the screw hole. Then again maybe I need another eye operation

c170b53 wrote:Looks like the manufacturers seam is forward of the screw hole (almost looks like you can see a faint line there) whereas the crack appears to be aft of the screw hole. Then again maybe I need another eye operation

They are made in both versions. It is not a “crack”. It’s a meet-line where the stamped sheet is folded to close over the copper contacts inside.

Thanks again for the help and advice. Just for grins, I compared the new part from Napa to my existing part. They look very much the same but the ST11 part I purchased has different dimensions and would not fit on the starter. I pulled the existing starter switch, cleaned it up and and put it back on the plane. I agree that it is a manufactured part line now that I have seen it up close and from inside out. At some point the part line was probably tighter but there is no I’ll effect on it’s operation in its current condition.
And so goes the annual for my plane…I have spent nearly the entire time cleaning and inspecting but rarely finding any problems. Such a great bird.