I have a 7HP Briggs and Stratton model 170452 1403 01 78073112 engine on my 1978 BobCat. The starter is a 110volt American Bosch part # 391489. the brushes are both gone. I mean GONE as in one is down to the braided wire and the other is part way into the spring! It looks like they are not available anymore, if they ever were? the commutator looks not too bad though. I checked on this site, and could not find anything useful.
Briggs and Stratton 170452-1403-99 Parts List and Diagram : eReplacementParts.com
Does anyone have a better source or has anyone McGivored a fix for this?

Brush Set [395538] for Lawn Equipment | eReplacement Parts

Is it a 120 volt starter ??
Is there a part number or brand on the starter.
There are a few different starters listed for your engine on Jackssmallengine

https://www.jackssmallengines.com/Ja...n/170292/88242

• 311 390081
  More Info Brush-Starter (For American Bosch 110V Starters) No Longer Available
  
• 311 390449
  More Info Brush Set (For 12V American Bosch) $29.60
  
• 311 390990
  More Info Brush Srt (For Mitsubishi Starters) $27.70
  
• 311 391705
  More Info Brush Set (For 3 1/16" Housing Length) $31.15
  
• 311 391705
  More Info Brush Set (For 3 1/16" Housing Length) Old Style: Brush End Head is 13/16" Wide $31.15
  
• 311 393612
  More Info Brush Set (110v 3-1/2" Housing Length) No Longer Available

Do the contact assemblies look like either of the sets in 43's post? If so maybe try the one that looks closest. Wonder if the vendor could give you the measurements of the carbon brush part. Think you can reduce the size if necessary. Another option might be to check a power tool repair shop to see if they have a brush that might fit. If you can find a brush, you can probably cut the electrical contacts off the braids, and solder them to the braids on the replacements, maybe

None of the above are the same. I don't think these are meant to be replaceable except for replacing the entire end cap. I will go to the local small engine places and see if they have any used or NOS parts. If that does not pan out, I will take a set of brushes out of an old angle grinder and file them down until they fit. The hard part will be dealing with all the rivets.

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You might want to look around your area and see if there's a shop that rebuilds motors and generators, and take it to them. If you have one... shops like that are getting kind of rare these days.

From the looks of things, you really need not only to replace the brushes but to clean up the commutator... if you don't do that the motor may not work well and/or will consume the new brushes very quickly. A rebuilding shop can put the armature in a lathe and get the commutator as good as new.

If you do want to just replace the brushes, you might try to find a good hardware store in your area. The ones that have those trays full of different fasteners sometimes have generic brushes and you might find some that fit. I don't know if you have Home Depot in Canada but I've seen brushes there in the past.

I have a hobby lathe, so I can clean up the commutator. I found this while trying to find YouTube videos on the subject. It shows different commutator conditions.
NEW POWER ELECTRIC (U.S.A) L.L.C.

Is it a 120 volt starter ??
Is there a part number or brand on the starter ??

The starter is a 110volt American Bosch part # 391489.

Yeah our volts are only worth 110 up here

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This is what I was sent from Briggs customer service but I don't see what you need in there. It's also for a 1403-99 instead of your 1403-01

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