zipper your idea got me to thinkin about the bolts. i went out to check and they are knurled.i sure was hoping they werent!. the stlye of starter that im using is for early 70s high hp sbc.ive use this kind of starter for years on some engines when room wasnt a issue.ive taken the starter off our nova and put it on the ranchwagon. i dont temember the brand but i sure remember the price!!!!.HOPE THIS ONE DONT GO SOUTH!! thanks guys for all your help. i really appreciate everyone trying to help.it means alot to me ill let you know how long this one lasts.now i gotta come up with one for the nova. ouch. thanks again ken

maybe someone mentioned this before but here goes.. have you checked the clearance between the starter teeth and the flywheel teeth ?..take a set of needle Nose pliers and pull out the starter gear and see how far in its meshing with Ring gear. If your getting in too deep there could be a bind not letting the starter gear retract properly causing the damage you mentioned..if your starter has the least little movment after running for a while it could cause the mis-alignment also

Ok now for completely off the wall. I had a Dually with Big Block and ran into start problems. even chewed up a flex plate it got so bad.

I got it started and took it to my roomates shop (I was tired of messing with it) his guys changed the flex plate and then put it all back together. started it a bunch of times and they thought it was good. then it would act up. Took it back, needs shims blah blah blah. well his guy who thought it would need shims, had about a max of .125 in there and still no help, it would barely engage.

I left them the truck to figure it out. One of the mechanics Dad who is a smart old guy, was in on a Saturday and the guys were bouncing ideas off him. He comes up with this solution .. put a 3/8" washer on the outside bolt and then tighten the inside bolt 1st and then the outside bolt. start it and try it.. the starter sounded perfect. The problem is that the starter to too far away from the flexplate. To fix it properly take the starter out and file the mating surface between the starter and the block flat. You really cannot take too much off because you can always put a shim back in.

I had the exact same thing on two different 400s.

hey bjuice!i did that before i ever even thought about starting it up. the one time i didnt the damage was awful.(another car also years ago). i dont just bolt one on and go. i like to know where every thing is sittin BEFORE i crank it up. so far you guys have been great. throwing possible solutions at me and believe me ido appreciate each and everyone of them. well its back outside time thanks again sir. ken

Use a steel paper clip. The diameter is exactly right to set the clearance between starter teeth and flywheel. You will probably need to shim it to get it just right. Force the starter end out with a screwdriver and push the paper clip (Unbent) into the gap between the flywheel and starter teeth.

The voltage thing is spot on too. If you have a bad earth or positive you're gonna find out with the starter. I stripped the teeth of a 572ci flywheel trying to start it with a half dead battery.