starter support bracket?

[trkklr77]

this weekend i chewed up a new flywheel on my 454, the old one was chewed up too hence the replacement. i tried shiming it which is something i have NEVER had to do to any other chevy before but have always heard of poeple doing. i had some shims and a checking rod left over from an old starter so i gave it a whirl.

the gap between the starter armerature and the flexplate was huge about 2x what the check rod was [rod is a 1/8"] so i put in a half shim on the outside as per instructions, it moves the starter gear in closer, not any better, 2 half shims and not helping.

i called my buddy and he said that he always used the support and has never had a problem, ive never had one until now. i cant even remember the last time i even saw a starter support on any vehicle, even at the junk yard.

my starter looks slightly cocked towards the motor so that it is pulling the bendix gear away from the fly wheel, i tried moveing it but it falls right back to that position.

it was grinding friday night till i recharged the battery and it worked great sat and today until 4pm when i went to check the timming, it had less than 30min of total run time[im running strictly off the battery right now]

i know this is a c/f to understand but its $180 i dont have, 2 new flex plates and maybe a new starter and i need help

also: are bbc and sbc starters the same???