After 5 years of ever-slowing cranking, I finally got around to changing my starter. I had swapped the solenoid the first year, it didn't help. I had put new battery clamps on the cables. That helped some.

I removed the tired old starter and cable, and found the cable had a 4" section bare of insulation where it passes near the manifold and head pipe.

I installed a Bosch stock replacement starter, along with the spring ring reproduction cable from American Autowire. It's only a 4 gauge cable, so my expectations were not too high. I sheathed the cable with MSD ignition shield, which is silicone over a braided insulating core, and sheathed the wires coming out of the tube all the way to the terminals.

The car cranks FAST now. Just like a new car. Cold startup is a lot easier as the fuel is still vaporized while ignition fires it. I should have done this years ago.

The true test will be at the Dream Cruise, with hot start with full heat soak.