I have another thread going on my oil pressure issue but have now got another issue going with my starter on the run stand.

I have had issues in the past with mounting the starter on the run stand. I have a cut-up torque converter from a 318 and a 143 tooth flywheel from a truck. I have two mounting plates and I have two starters booth 10 tooth. I had my spare on the run stand and was having trouble with it turning the engine over and it keep blowing my fused 12v connection to the distribution/coil. I just had everything together with clamps and thought that was my issue. I have the primary power going to the starter via a set of jumper cables. I secured everything and then put my wheeled box charger on the battery to ensure my voltage stayed up. Spun the motor over a few times then noticed smoke coming from my jumper cables to the starter. The wire burned through the insulation, so I am going to assume my starter has some type of short.

I am using my homemade plate and the 143 tooth flywheel to start.

Fast forward, I grab the starter off the car (which I believe is from a Dakota). Now i am having alignment issues with the flywheel. The two starters do not put the bendix in the same location and the teeth have a different shape-they are close but not the same. I guess my primary question what is the proper distance that the bendix is from the flywheel? I do have a little wiggle room in moving the starter but it seems no matter where I put it it doesn’t want to engage properly to the flywheel. Would the Dakota starter not work with the 143 tooth flywheel for some reason (i.e. tooth design)?