starter

[53burb]

Guys,
More problems with the 'Burb. It has a 350. A few days ago, it started making a noise as if the pinion gear on the starter was hitting the flexplate. When I originally replaced the starter a couple of months ago, I used the same shim from the original starter, and it seemed perfect. I tightened the starter bolts when I started having the problem. They really didn't need tightening. The problem went away. But then it started again. I used more shims on it this time. Yesterday, it wouldn't turn the flexplate. Looking at it from underneath, I used a remote starter, and I could see that the pinion gear was hitting the front of the flexplate and not engaging the teeth. I turned the enginge by hand, tried it again, and it cranked fine. I asked a few people here at work about this, and they said they have never heard of a bent flexplate. The teeth are all fine on the flexplate. I looked at this about a week ago. I am going to check the tightness of the flexplate tonight. Is it possible that the shaft or related parts on the starter is bent. I got it from Checkers about a couple of months ago??