With the option of shimming the starter for deeper engagement, the starter is now installed 100%. I had to cut a big chunk of the adapter plate out of the way to clear the starter for engagement. I didn't realize in the previous update that I was actually putting the starter in a bind when I had bolted it up. So now the piece is cut, the starter sits in there with its tight tolerances but clears everything and now engages nicely too.
Here are a couple of pics (they are hard to get good ones in there, lighting is always not good), and I tried out the flash.