[johnechi]

I have seen many a flexplate with bad teeth that grab onto the bendix and chew it up also. I too would change out the flexplate and get a hi torque starter motor and be done with it. Most of the hi torque starters I've seen have a billet aluminum nose/mount that hold up better than the cast aluminum nose housings out there, especially ones that have been rebuilt several times. You can take three reman starters, measure the nosecones and get three different measurements.