Thread: Starter / Flywheel Not aligning

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Gents,

Help! New to the forum here. I thought I would ask you experts this. I have a 427 Aluminum Shelby Block in an Cobra replica and a bellhousing I think is Lakewood (its red) and a 184 tooth flywheel. I have went through two starters and two ring gears. When I align the starter to the block plate or bellhousing, the starter gear teeth do not engage enough laterally to catch the flywheel ring gear teeth fully. I could see this visibly after taking the transmission (Tremec 3550) and bellhousing off. The prior owner would have done the bellhousing alignment as there are dowels in place to locate it. I am not sure what to do to fix this. My problems started with having the wrong starter bolts. Right ones are on order. I would appreciate if anyone has any idea here on what to do. Could I have the wrong bellhousing? Pic of the issue is attached.