Bent starter shaft

[UpNorthNick]

Had to replace the starter gear on ol' Suzabelle; when I took the old one off and spun up the starter to deburr the shaft, I noticed that the far end of the starter shaft has about a 1/16-1/8" wobble to it.
I'm guessing that the shaft got tweaked when the teeth broke and jammed the starter. How much wobble is "acceptable", or should I just bite the bullet and buy another starter or have this one rebuilt?

 

[Den N Ms]

Nick , You could try and straighten the shaft out.It has to be bent from the bushing out.Take the bendix off ,mount it in a vice spin the shaft with vice grips close to the bushing and mark the close side.Straighten it with a dead blow hammer or a short piece of pipe,then spin and check it.With a dial indicator setup you could get it almost perfect. But it may work as it is.

 

[UpNorthNick]

(quoted from post at 16:48:01 03/09/19) Nick , You could try and straighten the shaft out.It has to be bent from the bushing out.Take the bendix off ,mount it in a vice spin the shaft with vice grips close to the bushing and mark the close side.Straighten it with a dead blow hammer or a short piece of pipe,then spin and check it.With a dial indicator setup you could get it almost perfect. But it may work as it is.

Yes, it seems to be bent from the bushing out; the armature spins freely. I was wondering if it could be straightened the way you describe; I don't have a press, but I'm sure I can jury-rig something to get it back closer to true.

I honestly don't know *when* it got bent; this is the 2nd gear I've put on it since I bought her about 6 or 8 years ago. This last one broke when I tried to fire her up at -18F to clear the driveway.

 

[Royse]

If it comes down to replacing it, the shaft that is, I have one.
It's actually the whole inside of the starter just removed from
housing. I can't remember why I took it out, but it's on the shelf.
I'll check it to make sure it's still true but you can have it.
Pick it up or pay the ~$15 shipping. Your choice.

 

[UpNorthNick]

Thanks, Royce! I'm gonna see if I can tweak it back into closer alignment; if that fails, I'll definitely be in touch!

-N