Quick question about a repair (already completed)
 

Hey guys,
Last weekend I replaced my starter. I mosied on down to the local Pull N Pay, found another 96 LX that somebody had already yanked the engine out of, and lo and behold, found a starter hanging from the battery cable. Not believing my luck, I quickly paid the $15 and made for home. I pulled my starter(only problem was the solenoid was sticking, about once a week I was having to give it a sharp smack with a rachet in order to start the car), and to my dismay, the plate that mounts back to the car (not sure of the technical term) was a different size and bolt layout than the one I bought. I proceeded to pull the solenoid off of the junkyard starter, and try it that way. All went well until a bolt snapped during the tightening process. My sidekick and I decided to try starting her up with only one bolt in, and got nothing. I ended up at the local Ch*cker/O'R*ely buying an new starter (the mounting plate on which was also different) and a reverse drill bit set. Long story short, we drilled the snapped bolt out, carefully put the new solenoid on the old plate, and put the whole blasted thing back in the car. She starts like a dream now.

My question is this: What the h***??? Why didn't either of the starters that I bought simply swap out with the old one? Has anyone else run into anything similar?

The starters are different for manual vs. automatic. Other than that, all D-series starters should interchange on the same type of transmission.

Often the only problem is that the copper contact points inside the solenoid are worn out.

Also don't count on the "discount" parts store to always give you the correct part, or one that works.

mk378,
Both the starter from the junkyard Civic and the one I bought from Ch*cker were for a manual tranny.
My VIN indicates that my car was built early in the year, is it possible that I have parts from the previous generation?