Starter differences?

[buggalugs]

Hiya,

Just wondering if there were differences in starters between Mk2 models? I've just swapped the gearbox on our 1.8 '99 Mk2 and spent a frustrating hour trying to get the bolts to line up. Looking at the old 'box the top corner bolt hole is very slotted to allow a range of movement, on this new 'box it isn't and the bolt won't quite go in. The box is allegedly from an '03 1.6.

Cheers
Neil

[buggalugs]

Well I can't see anyone listing more than one type of starter for the Mk2 so I must just be being an idiot somehow.

[MX-5 Lazza]

We had a similar issue when we replaced the gearbox on our Mk1 1.6. It was the top bolt that goes through the bell-housing and starter. It took 2 days of fiddling to get the bloody thing to go through and then it just dropped through with no effort at all. I guess there must be a slight misalignment of the holes causing a small step that was stopping the bolt from just dropping through.

[buggalugs]

Thanks - with a second pair of hands we got the two bolts in across the diagonal but not the 'corner' one; which we after a struggling for a while decided to ditch in the name of weight saving. The old box has a slotted hole for that bolt and the new one doesn't but, whatevs.