American Motors: starter motor AMC Hornet 232-1977, flywheel teeth, amc hornet

Question
I have a Hornet 1977, engine 232, 6L.The starter don´t work perfect, several times I have to turn the engine by hand until the drive gear can engage the ring of the flywheel and starts the engine
It seems that the drive gear does not matches the ring. What is the number of teeth of the drive gear? The starter is an Autolite.Please help me with all the ideas you can have, because here in Chile I don´t have expertise in AMC cars. Thanks.

Answer
It sounds as though the flywheel has damaged teeth on the gear. This is not uncommon.
I do not know how many teeth are on either the starter drive (drive gear) or the flywheel (driven gear).
You can remove the starter and turn the engine over by using a socket on the front crankshaft damper bolt. Look through the starter opening at the flywheel teeth. If they are damaged, I would suggest replacing the flywheel.