starter wont catch flywheel
 

ok i have a 86 chevy truck with an old style 350, its an 010 block and i replaced the flywheel and i cant seem to get a starter that will mesh up right. its like they arent close enough to the flywheel. im pulling out my hair can someone help me find the right starter please.

Sounds like you replaced a 168 tooth flywheel with a 153 tooth. Did you match them up or count the teeth?

you might just need to shim your starter. i had the same problem on and older 350. i chewed up two starters before i found the problem. i put a .020 shim in it and after that it sounded like a brand new motor starting.

You always need to shim chevy starters. I believe you need about a 1/16" engagement space between teeth of flywheel and starter gear once you have everything lined up- I think they suggest about the width of a big paper clip.

Of course you also as Beast said need to make sure that you have the right tooth flywheel.