Oh dear, after a week of great building, sorting out the last of the loom, plumbing in the header tank and sorting out little jobs I never finished it was time to turn the key and get it started. Much to my surprise the starter motor made a rather nasty sound and then refused to play ball.

All in all, I ended up buying a new starter motor (pre engaged) for my type 9 and 1700 xflow combination, and went to fit it.

Now the gap between the old starter solinoid and my manifold was slim to say the least, but the new starter just plain won't fit under the pipes, so I'm stuck.

Does anyone out there know if there's a starter with the solinoid on the bottom that will fit a type 9? Would I be better off swapping the shinny expensive new motor for a inertia type starter or do I take to the manifold and extend the top section of the pipes by 1"?

Not happy chappy at the mo, was looking forward to the sweet throb of the xflow bursting in to life!