Starter or flywheel?

I have a 1982 40 hp mercury 2 cylinder. The starter has lately been hanging up against the flywheel when I crank it. Teeth on the flywheel and bendix look a little worn. I've talked to a couple of different mechanics and of course gotten a couple different opinions. One says replace the flywheel and one says rebuild the starter. I tried greasing the shaft on the starter but it didn't help any. We dropped it loose and it kicks in and spins fine when not engaging the flywheel. When it's hung up against the flywheel if I bump the key to jar it loose it will only click. I normally have to pop the top off of the motor and do it by hand. Just wondering if anyone else has had this happen. Thanks in advance for any replies.

The flywheel looks the worse of the two in the pic, but you should really replace both. The drive kit doesn't appear to be available any longer but the drive is so that will get new teeth on the starter. Problem is the flywheel is NLA (no longer available) at the site I looked on. You may end up having to search for a good used one.

I had a similar problem. Greasing the starter shaft fixed it. Greasing all teeth wouldn't hurt either.

Clean all the electrical connections. Have the started draw tested.