I bought a 95 Jeep Wrangler unfinished project about 6 months ago. Rebuilt 350 engine (about 6,000 on it) with a 350 tranny. 14" 168 tooth flexplate. Got it finished and it ran and drove great.

Starter started grinding and this past weekend wouldn't engage at all. pulled it out and the teeth on the starter are chewed up. The flexplate is decent, some marks on the teeth but none destroyed. Went to O'reilly and matched it up, went to install it and that's when I noticed that the starter teeth only engaged about half way into the teeth on the flexplate. Took it back and we went through their starter assortment to see if we could find a different one with no luck.

Ordered a mini starter from Summit for 168 tooth and it barely engages at all. I'm stumped - anyone have any ideas or recommendations?