Sorry, I don't know who said it but they were correct
in that the shim (a thin metal plate made of ~18 gauge
metal in my car's case) helps keep the starter gear
from over-shooting the flywheel on activation.
I must have thrown mine away with the first starter
that disintegrated on the car (the assembly bolts had
all backed-out and the starter literally fell into
pieces as I drove down a bumpy stretch of road.)
Anyhow, for the next several years I would get an
occasional grind when starting the car.
When I finally removed that starter, I found that the
back of the starter gear teeth had all been chewed-up.
Evidently, only the very edge of the gear (the side
closest to the main body of the starter) was engaging
with the flywheel.
I went through a couple more starters in a week's time
thinking "damn! I can't get a decent starter to work
on this car!" and then noticed the part listing for a
metal shim in the VB catalogue and figured that the
gear must be overshooting the flywheel without the
part.
I got a shim from the local parts guy, who suggested I
try just one, and then buy more or try shimming with
washers temporarily if needed to see if I needed
something thicker, but he'd never heard about anyone
using more than one. I haven't gotten a grind out of
the starter even once since installing the one shim.
I would imagine that the aluminum spacer (the 1/2"
thick thing) is absolutely mandatory. The metal shim
cost me like $3 and you only need it if you need it.
-Terry
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