Stumbled on this solution to grinding stomp starters:
Inside the little housing on top of the starter is where the big, square copper contactor resides. It's held in place by the fat stud that goes through the housing and accepts the cable from the battery. When you tighten down the nut holding on the battery cable, if you inadvertently let the stud rotate a bit it is also rotating the big square copper contactor inside the housing causing one corner to dip down. With that corner rotated down, it now actuates the starter before the full throw of the lever engaging the pinion with the flywheel.
So pull off the little housing, square up the contactor and lock it down tight, then make sure you don't twist that stud putting the battery cable back on. If you still need more throw before actuating the starter motor you can also bevel the bottom edge of the contactor as needed.
