How to remove the starter the easy way - '77 911S
 

This post pertains to a '77 911S model - but may also work fine on others - as long as you have enough room above the starter along the plane where the top barrel nut is situated.

This weekend I was dreading pulling the starter because of the difficulty in locating and loosening the hidden top barrel nut. But using the technique below I got it off and back on in total about 10 minutes.

When I searched for how to remove the starter (I had only doe done it once before when the engine was out of the car) with engine in situ I saw many posts that stated one must hug the transmission from underneath and reaching around with the other hand somehow get the 10mm hex wrench into the top barrel nut - difficult and messy! But this is totally unnecessary. The hidden barrel nut can be removed quite easily as follows:

1. Tools required: 1/2" drive ratchet and 4.5" long 10mm hex key socket + some socket extensions - the total you will need to reach to barrel nut is around 6" - and this will leave enough room to attach the ratchet wrench once you've found the nut.

The secret here is to use the long hex extension because if you use a regular length 10mm hex socket - the body of the socket will interfere with locating the hex wrench into the barrel nut with a straight-on angle - you DO NOT want to strip that barrel nut!

2. Get the car off the ground safely - jack stands, etc - and get yourself room to access the starter - you will basically be lying under the right rear wheel and will need to be able to reach the area above the starter.

3. Disconnect the battery and disconnect the wires from the starter and get them out of the way. I did not have to remove the heater box hose on my model but you may have to.

4. Put a small strip of electric tape onto the 4.5" 10mm socket - this will help to secure the barrel nut when your remove it from falling - just to be safe - and also the same for installing the barrel nut later - the tape will hold the barrel nut and keep it from dropping back in a blind spot and fishing it out - this will save you tons of time - more important to do this on installation.

4. Now with a short extension on the 4.5" 10mm hex socket reach up above the starter - orient yourself as to the position of that hidden nut- it will be opposite the lower nut - to give you an idea - by poking around gently with the hex socket (by hand) eventually you will get in into the barrel nut - just be patient - when you visualize where that nut is you aim the hex socket towards that area and eventually you will get in into the end of the barrel nut - the "sweet" spot.

5. Once you have inserted the hex socket attach the ratchet and unscrew it. Its a tight fit but enough room for the ratchet wrench to turn a small amount. When it is loose withdraw it gently - the tape will hold it onto your socket.

6. Install is the same - again just visualize about where that barrel nut needs to go - with the barrel nut on the end of the socket by hand gently place it back above the starter and start to poke - eventually you will get it onto the stud and then you can tighten it down.

Thank you very much for this procedure.This would be a great note to add to our existing DIY tech article(s) on the starter troubleshooting and replacement - I'm sure that our community will find it very useful.

I replaced the top barrel nut on mine with a standard hex nut...made life so much easier.

Great advice. And, if I may, add an anectdote. On my prior 73.5, I found the barrel nut to be fairly shallow and the chamfered edges of the hex socket made matters worse as it reduced the contact points of the nut and socket. Like you, I used extended sockets, but went a bit further and ground the end down so that there was no chamfer. Of course, I did the blind mating routine with the transmission.

I hope that I never need to replace my starter, but thanks ahead of time for posting this.

A bear hug of your gearbox, and a longish round-end allen socket, make this job tolerable.