Could I have the wrong flywheel?

Thanks to all for the great suggestions. Tried a new parts place today, and I may have a breakthrough to report. Took in the old starter, which he verified was for a '68 smallblock with manual transmission. He then brought out all his starters that were even close, and we found one that is identical, but the snout is a 1/4 inch longer. It is listed in his book as '68 Mustang Auto/standard. Talk about confusing.

New flywheel gear is installed, and I'm off to the garage to reinstall the flywheel, clutch, pressure plate, bellhousing, tranny, shifter, starter, and driveshaft. I'll post again once it is all reassembled and tell you if the new starter did the trick.

Again, thank to everyone for all the great ideas.

Well, one problem solved but another created.

After changing the pilot bushing and flywheel ring gear, I put the car all back together with it's new longer snout starter motor.

Unfortunately, I must have screwed the re-assembly up somehow, because on startup a bad sound is coming from the bellhousing. Sounds sort of like the throwout bearing is not riding smoothly on the three clutch fingers and making a racket. Before I shut the engine off, I slipped the tranny into first (still on jackstands) and slipped the clutch to see if it was functioning...seems to work with no change is the bad noise coming from the bellhousing. I pulled the dust boot off the throwout arm and looked through the opening in the bellhousing (engine not running) to observe the throwout bearing action. It all looked normal to me.

Sadly, i think I have to pull the tranny and clutch again and inspect it all to find what I did wrong. From the sound, I'm guessing either the pilot bushing is eating itself, the throwout bearing is not correctly seated, or I somehow ruined the tranny input shaft while aligning the tranny on istallation (though I was careful not to use any force or place any weight on the shaft.).

If anyone can think of a potential problem I'm overlooking, I'd appreciate your thoughts. The tranny comes back out in the morning.

Thanks.

Yep, all better. Changing the flywheel ring gear addressed the damage I had done. Changing the starter to a longer snout has resulted in (so far) fifty starts without one hiccup. More careful readjustment of the clutch free play has eliminated the noise from the bellhousing. So, I'll call this one a success and move on.

Glad to hear my trials were of some use. Had I know how to use the forum all those years ago when I started this restoration, I would have avoided doing many things twice, and I'd be a lot further along in the project. Sigh.