AMC 401 starter question

Hey all, Ive got a 68 M715 with a 401. Since I have had it(not very long) the starter has occasionly grinded( not a word but you get the point) but would always move past and start. The other day it continued grinding and would not engage so I got a new starter but I ended up with the same results. The starter gear is engaging but just grinding on the flywheel. The flywheel does not look bad and I can not find any movement in the flywheel. Where I do see movement is in the flywheel casing to the transfer case, but the bolts are tight. The only idea I come up with is to grind two washers into wedge shapes to kick the starter so the gear engages the flywheel tighter. I did turn the flywheel to several different positions but still nothing but grinding. any thoughts? thanks

If it was working before and then it got worse, something had to change. Shimming it might work, but I would dig deeper into what changed. I'm not following what you mean by the flywheel casing to the transfer case, but if you see something moving, you are probably close to the problem. I had all kinds of trouble with a chevy 400 once and custom made shims will work for a bit and then you'll break the nose cone of the starter. In my case, the starter mounting holes were damaged and there was no getting it right.

I agree, Im looking again today to try and see what has moved. what I mean by the casing is the housing that surrounds the flywheel and is bolted to the block on the front and the transfer case on the rear. sorry if I dont use correct teminology. Im a carpenter and only a weekend mechanic. thanks

have you checked around the entire flywheel, to make sure there isn't a "bad spot" or some missing teeth... can you manually pull out or engage the starter gear to check the mesh? maybe it's not engaging far enough. Did the wear on the old unit give an clues, like the tips of the gears being chewed up?

Is this an automatic or manual transmission? What you are describing as being loose sounds like the inspection cover. That is likely not what is causing the grinding. I'm not too familiar with how the 401 starter bolts down but IIRC they did not use shims.

Is you starter solenoid mounted on the starter or does the starter have a cover on it over the bendix lever like on old Fords? Either way you may remove the solenoid or bendix cover and manually engage the starter gear by hand to see if the clearance is correct when the starter is bolted on.