[DanEC]

I responded by accident under your old thread.

I don't understand why, but possibly slotting the bolt holes in the starter mounting bosses may be the only way out. I would be concerned about the starter eventually backing over however. I guess another approach might be to offset drill or carefully file out the bolt holes on the starter for the next size metric or SAE bolt and ream and tap the holes in the block plate to match. How many bolts secure it to the block plate - 2 or 3? If only two you might get away with only off-set drilling one hole only to swing the starter in slightly.

I think this would be pretty easy to do. Select the oversize bolts and take a washer for them and lay it over the mounting hole on the starter boss. Orient it in the direction the hole needs to move to tighten gear clearances and mark the inside circumference with small Sharpie. I assume it's aluminum so you should be able to easily file the hole out to the marked line with a good round hand file. Just go slow and test fit the bolt often to make the holes as snug as possible. The block plate mounting holes can easily be over-drilled and tapped for the new bolt size.

Have you talked with MSD? I wonder if they possibly have some different gear diameter options.