This may be long, so bear with me. On my 1985 F150 4x4 (351W, C6) it seems that at some point in its life, a previous owner separated the tranny from the engine. Upon putting it back in, they did not use the original equipment metal shield between the bellhousing and engine block, instead placing a piece of cut tin in its place. Problem is, this piece of tin does not extend to the starter section of the bellhousing, leaving a gap where the starter bolts up, allowing dirt and debris to enter the bellhousing. It also makes proper alignment of the starter pinion and flywheel damn near impossible. Before this starter died the truck would make a vicious shriek when starting. When I removed the starter, the pinion teeth and flywheel teeth appear fine, but the bearing for the pinion in the starter looked to be destroyed as a result of sand and grit infiltrating into the starter. There is also a lot of dirt and grime in the actual bellhousing. Can anyone think of a possible cheap solution to my problem? This truck is my offroad truck, and sees a lot of dirt, and I really don't want to end up needing to put new starters in every few weeks, or a possible tranny replacement. Does anyone know how thick the original shroud is so I can shim the starter correctly?