1963 Flywheel Questions

Hi Bill,
Thank you first off for helping us all with your wealth of knowledge!
I recently purchased a 63 continental that had been sitting for about 13 years. After flushing the fuel system and rebuilding the carburetor it was time to add a battery and see if she would fire (of course I checked fluids and if the motor turned etc). When I hit the ignition the starter sounded awful but it started and ran with about half a crank, ran smooth and quiet. I then moved to addressing the starter issue, I found the starter bendix gear to be worn badly so I ordered a new starter and installed. In doing so I noticed that clearly the motor and trans had been separated at some point in the past. I tried the new starter same horrible noise and again it started, this time while running I viewed the flywheel and could see a really bad wobble so I shut it down, I pulled the tranny and slid it back to access the flywheel and found the reason for the wobble, whoever installed it before did not line up the TQ drain bolts? With the proper recess in the flywheel. I excitedly fixed this issue and bolted everything back together positive I had solved my issues! It all appears straight while manually turning the flywheel checking against the starter housing but still makes that loud grinding noise when starting.
So to my question. I counted the teeth on my flywheel thinking maybe it had been changed and what I counted twice (using a sharpee to mark) are 169 teeth…. I can’t find anywhere how many teeth the stock flywheel should have. I see that a replacement from a 66 has 164 and uses matching year starter. Any suggestions? I’m at a loss.
Oh and the starter noise is not like that of a starter in need of shimming it sounds more like forgetting to use the clutch on a stick shift ouch!
Thank you sir!
Brent
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Greetings Brent –
Because of your recent experience with the flywheel installation there could have been other errors in the engine installation. Have you checked for the presence of the bell housing plate and the reinforcement ring (at the flywheel)? Is it possible that the flywheel is now cracked? I would examine these possibilities first. If necessary call our office and ask to speak to Al for further advice as he has advised me that the number of teeth should not cause what you are now experiencing.
Sincerely,
Bill