The ring gears I have all have bevels on the starter side of the teeth to help it engage easier, so you may notice accelerated wear of the pinion on the starter if you flip it around. There is also a bevel cut into the flywheel and ring gear that may not be present on the flip side of the gear.

I have gone around the block on ring gears as I adapted a 261 flywheel to fit a 216 6 volt ring gear. The inner diameters of the ring gears are not the same between the two, at least between the '62 11" clutch flywheel and the '50 216 flywheel. I had a machine shop turn down the '62 flywheel to fit the early ring gear so I could use the footstomp '50 starter.

As far as removal and installation of the ring gear, a propane bbq grill works really well for both removal and installation because it heats evenly. If you use your grill take the top grill out first so you don't get grease and oil all over your food contact surface. Be sure to wear welder's gloves, too, since a 20 lb chunk of cast iron holds a lot of heat.

Paint & Body Shop moderator
A lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.