sbc starter help

[scotzilla]

GOt a 327 with a 168 tooth flywheel- Order a summit starter part number g1665- Its a staggered bolt pattern- It works but doesnt sound right- SO i add a shim- SOunds even worse- SO i take the shim out and pry the bendix out and see how its engaging the teeth on the flywheel. the starter housing is holding it too far down- Barely engaging the teeth depth wise as well as the shims in the nose of the starter were keeping the bendix from comming more than half way into the flywheel teeth. So I bought a delco starter and ran into the same problems. Grabbed a starter off of another motor i had laying around and same problem again. THen I replaced the flexplate since it was worn but not too bad looking.
Trying to get the bendix to engage farther into the flexplate I Split the starter housing and took the shim out of the nose and added some shims from another starter to the back. BOlted it all back up and same problem- It Kicks out further but not all the way- I would say about 3/4 of the way into the flex plate. Not happy with the outcome I bumped the starter and nothings changed.
Im lost- where do i go from here- My only other idea is to put a smaller tooth count flywheel on it- with a different starter