So, it's a beautiful day in my neighborhood so of course I’m under my car. My started is still grinding so I thought I’d go under and shim it up (or down) to fix that. But something doesn’t look right to me. At best alignment my starter is only catching i/2 the width of the flex plate teeth – you can plainly see where the starter has only engaged ½ (full rotation, as far as I can see) for its entire life. In fact the end of the starter cone (with the bang washer) won’t allow the starter gear to travel far enough to grab the width of the flex plate.

So, what am I missing? This is a 454 with external balance flex plate that has been running as is (meaning I don’t think I have the flex plate on backwards – I would expect to have vibrated the engine to pieces a long time ago). What else can I check? This is a GM starter, supposed to be for this car. Do cars and trucks have different starters? Maybe my engine is for one and my starter is for the other?