Sarter Shimming Questions...

[BIG DOG]

 no crack in flex plate      starter puchin it away         the right amount of teeth     there is 2 flywheel   with different teeth count
   just things to watch

[Hammerlane]

The starters not skipping off, it's actually running into the flywheel and not getting out into position where it should. I figured that would mean it was too close. Not sure how many shims are supposed to be in a starter but right now there's probably 1/8" worth of shims.

Gotcha, sounds like the true issue is not being addressed.. if you've shimmed from none to 1/8" and it's still doing it you have some other issue I would think, either like BigDog says or the starter itself.

In a stock setup (I know your not stock but) I've never needed more than 3 (bout 1/2 the thickness your using)

If you loosen your mounting bolts, push the tail end (the end towards the front of the motor) of the starter towards the engine block, hold it there the best you can and tighten the mounting bolts down.. try and spin the motor over.. how many tries do you get out of it before it skips?  recheck the position of the starter,, is it still towards the block? or has it shifted??

[TBigLug]

Those are good ideas. I took for granted fact whether it was the right teeth count. I'll count the teeth and try the push and tighten thing tomorrow after I patch up our corn picker and get back with you.