i have an 87 z28 and it has a 305 in it with a 700r4.

but last year around this time I bought a used tranny out ofn wrecked firebird and put it in my Camarillo because mine was slipping and it's been just fine until about 6 months ago when my starter randomly went out and I got a new one and now whenever I get on it I hear a strange
clanking sound. at first I thought it was my
header bolts coming loose where it connects to the rest of the exhaust but I checked and they're all tight. and then that starter stopped workin too. so i got. another new starter and it's been working but occasionally it won't engage and it just makes this high pitched whine and I have to climb under my car with a crowbar and spin the flywheel just a bit then it'll start just fine.

what the hell is going on? lol

whats a camarillo? check the flywheel for missing teeth.

Did you put the shims back in the same places when you changed the starter?

I meant camaro sorry i was on my iphone lol. and my flywheel has no missing teeth and when i removed the original starter there were no shims but for it to even engage and start i have 6 shims in.

So you went from 0 shims to 6 shims? That seems very odd to me. When ever I've replaced the starter with the OEM replacement I've only had to just put the shims back in. A high pitch whine usually means the starter isn't making contact with the flywheel/flexplate(meaning it has gone bad, the purple wire on the solenoid has came loose, or it could be from the bolts being loose or improperly shimed).