Help! '53 Super H starter questions

cover2

New User
I work at a non profit and we use a Super H as our marina tractor, for getting boats in and out of the water. Recently the starter drive disintegrated and I ordered a ratchet drive and some brushes/bushings figuring to freshen it up and keep going. Took it apart to find out a. the end cover with the brushes is cracked, and b. the shaft is threaded and machined to different sizes, not just one smooth shaft with a woodruff key... So I thought I'll just get a whole new unit, but it has not been so simple. I have a parts catalog (which I later realized is for H and HV but not SH) Long story long, I ended up (via Amazon) a starter for an H, a C 163 engine, but mine is a SH and a C 164 engine. The only difference I can see is that the SH has the pad terminal for the pull rod relay, and the new starter I bought has a stud terminal. Both are 2 ear mounts instead of 3 (which is what a lot of SH searches will pull up) so it SEEMS like I should be able to just put this on, wire up a push button switch with some 2 AWG cables and it should work fine. I just can't find any confirmation that this is true, and if it is not true, I want to return this starter I have before mounting it and possibly damaging it. So, can any of you tell me if these starters are mostly interchangeable? It is a 6v 10 tooth, CCW but Im not positive that is what the SH needs, and it never cross references with starters from H, M, C that all seem to work together...
 

Yes, you should be able to use a push button switch, but #2 cables might be a bit small. Some folks claim the cables need to be #0 or even #00, but I have found that #1 works just fine and is much easier to work with.
 

Interesting - I double checked the wires currently on it, and they are 2/0 which upon further googling is actually 00 gauge. (I'm more sued to 12,14, 16 ga. so just assumed that fat wire = 2, so I learned something!)

It says that 00 is rated for up to 200 Amps, but the switches I see are rated for 100 - is that going to be a problem?
 
Thanks for the help guys! Parts are ordered and I'm optimistic it will work well.

One more quick question - where does the positive battery cable ground to? (I was not the one who disassembled this) Seems like it could just go between the bolt and the "nosecone flange" of the starter -- but I also see another bolt into the body of the tractor right next to where the starter mounts. It would be a very convenient ground point, but the bolt looks like it has been undisturbed for many years, so maybe not... Guessing just against the starter itself.
 

For best performance, the ground cable should fasten under one of the starter mounting bolts. That is not the original location, but that is where most of them are now.
 

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