> I am considering one of those gear-reduction starters that Go-Westy 
> sells; he makes a compelling case for them. Anyone had similar probs
> that the gear-reduction starter solved?? Any other solutions. I understand
> all starters are rebuilts now and these can be not near as strong as the 
> new ones were.

I researched this product a few months back, and actually spoke at length to
the actual supplier himself.  I'm sure you can find the more detailed post
in the archives, but in a nutshell, here is what I found at that time...

1) The starter is not a Hitachi, but a Nippon Denso with a modified mount to
fit a Vanagon. It's been available for years; the company that makes it
specializes in such modifications, and developed this application years ago
for Gene Berg.

2) The manufacturer told me that despite any claims to the contrary, this
particular model starter (the one I researched in particular was the
manual-trans Vanagon version) was not new but rebuilt, as the supply of
completely new Nippon Denso's for this application had dried up some time
ago. 

3) The starter does have the benefit of being significantly higher torque
than the stock starter, which could be beneficial if you have a weak
battery, live in a frigid climate, or have a modified engine with
significantly higher compression. 

After weighing this information (and the fact that stock Bosch starters -
even rebuilt ones - cost much less and generally are perfectly reliable,
even in colder climates), I decided not to carry the reduction-gear starter
at that time based on what I had learned. 

- Ron Salmon
  The Bus Depot, Inc.
  www.busdepot.com
  (215)  234-VWVW

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