Bob
It is not uncommon for these pinions to crack this way where the roll pin is….Doesn’t seem to do any harm, new one will probably do the same thing in time.
You can do it with the starter in place, do you have the white plastic spool or the aluminum spool? The aluminum spool is more difficult to do because there is a shaft inside the spool that locks into the spring…So, you have to secure the inner shaft with a screw driver while driving out the roll pin or the spring will unwind. The white spool is one piece so the spring won’t unwind once the roll pin is removed…
In any event, simply remove the two retaining bolts, pick the pinion up just slightly so the pinion will clear the flywheel. Might be easier to remove the roll pin on the white plastic spool before removing the retaining bolts.
The aluminum spool is probably a two person job.
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