VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 Starter 1941

Hi, A friend needs to replace his starter on a 1941 216 Master Deluxe. A local car parts distributor has a 1949 starter. Will it work on the 41. He has changed his electrical system to 12 volt. Chevy of the 40'S shows the 41 starter fits 41-48, and there is a different starter from 49-54.

On the two starters that I have I noticed that they both have reverse polarity switches on them while his did not. I assume it was taken off when the electrical was updated to 12 volts. Since he wants to be in a parade this weekend I lent him my extra starter. An 80 year old retired mechanic rebuilt it(Chevy of the 40'S kit, so basically new brushes). I figured it was well worth my lending him my extra one, since besides being real dirty it needed at least one new brush which was 90% worn,(plus I got introduced to a real old time mechanic with exceptional skill and experience). Am I compromising my use of the starter once it has been used in a 12 volt system if I want to use it someday in my 6 volt system?

P.S. The rebuilt starter worked like a charm when we reinstalled it.

Thanks, Mike

If the 1949 starter is from a truck it will work. The truck had the foot starter and the car had the push button starter with a solenoid.
The fact that a starter has or had a reversing switch only proves that it came from a 1941 through early 1948. The some times troublesome switch was eleminated in the Spring of 1948.
The fact that the 6 V starter was used on a 12 V system should ot have harmed the starter, as long as it wasn't overheated with long periods of running (use).