Hard starts when warmed up...

[rich weyand]

The PO of my truck put a gear-reduction starter on it, and I don't have any problems with the headers, with no heat shield at all.  It really spins it up.

[76LongBox]

If it does turn out to be the starter, I may look at that as an option.  I decided when I did the swap to stick with factory style exhaust manifolds, and they are definitely very close to the starter, but I figured it should hold up ok since that's the way it was before.

It's amazing how much I have learned throughout this process, but it's also amazing how much more there is to learn.  Thanks to guys like you, folks like me with a "little" knowledge, can do a lot more than we thought we could with a little help.

[rich weyand]

Four years ago I was in pretty much the same position, at least with regard to the CKs.  I did a lot of stuff on 60's cars back in the day as well, and it took a while for that to come back.  But I don't know where I would be without forums like this one.  Always more to learn.

[76LongBox]

New battery cables and battery tray arrived today.  I didn't realize how bad rusted out my old tray was...I'm surprised the battery was still sitting upright! 

Anyway, installed the new cables, and still no joy on the hot starts.  It STRUGGLES to turn the engine over - it seems to be getting worse with each passing day.  So, I go to my local O'Reilly and have them test it...guy says it's not bad.  I meet the wife for dinner, and while I'm eating my Arby's sammich I think back to when I first got this thing up and running with the new drivetrain last year.  The starter didn't sound right from the beginning...making some odd sounds.  So, the more I thought about it, the more I believed it was the starter.

So, after dinner I go to one of the other O'Reilly stores in town, and had them check the starter....they say it's bad.  The voltage drops to nothing on the dash gauge when I'm trying to start the truck, so I tend to agree with this second dude that the starter is toast.

I had them look it up in their system (as that is where I bought it last year) and I bought the one that carries a lifetime replacement warranty.....so, tomorrow (if time allows), I'll pull the starter and exchange it for another one - hopefully that will solve the problem.

On a side note, while the battery cables may not have been bad, it was definitely time to change them anyway....they were the originals from 1976.

[rich weyand]

Excellent move to hit the other store.  Closing in on the problem, and a lot of other things tweaked up along the way.

[76LongBox]

Was able to get the starter replaced today, and it seems (at least for now) to have solved the problem.  We had a "cool front" move through last night and it's no where near as hot outside, so a quick trip down the road and back really didn't get the temp up as high as it has been getting.

Hopefully it's resolved....

I'd like to say thanks again to everyone who assisted me with the troubleshooting on this thread. 

[76LongBox]

Just thought I'd add a quick note....

I got the truck out and drove it quite a bit this evening - about 125 mile round trip (about 90 of it on the interstate @ 65-70 MPH) and the truck ran great.  Starts up nicely now even when warm - there is no doubt now that the other starter had problems. 

Thanks again.