starter of flexplate?

Alright, I am having another problem with another one of my vehicles :banghead: . When I hop in my 86 vic with the 351 police package it sounds like the starter is spinning free. At first it would grind and if you tried again it would catch. Now nothing. I dropped the starter out and the teeth on the flexplate look fine but i dont know for sure what they should look like. The gear in the starter also looks fine, however there are metal shavings in the starter housing where the gear is. Should I be able to push the gear forward (like it would be when i try and start and it is engaged into the flexplate)? Also how much of a pita is it to install a new flex plate?

the bendix is bad replace the starter