On Mon, 04 Sep 2006 10:13:48 -0500, Robbie and Laura Reynolds
> wrote:

>There's a shop here in Independence, MO, that will sell the solenoid
>contacts. I've bought contacts for a few Chrysler minivan starters, and
>they always tell me to bring the starter in to match the parts
>visually. Most shops that are in the business of rebuilding things
>don't like to sell parts, but these guys went ahead and sold me what I
>needed for well under $5. <snip>

It's getting very hard to find an old-time "auto electric shop," which
used to specialize in battery rebuilding (a lost art), generator
rebuilding (same), alternator rebuilding (getting to be a lost art)
and...tada...starter overhaul, still a big business, but one lost to
cheeseball rebuilders that feed cheeseball retailers like AutoBone.
There's still one here locally and he will sell genuine, usually OEM,
starter and alternator parts for a reasonable price. He'll also turn
slip rings if you bring in the armature, or turn/undercut a starter or
generator commutator. I do those myself on a small engine lathe here
at home, so I don't need those services usually, but if I have a
burned or missing commutator sector, he's got the stock to make a new
one and will solder it in and turn it for about $25. He's going to
retire in five years, and that'll be that for such shops in this whole
area.