Transmission on a shovel

A friend of mine is having a problem with his transmission on his kicker. It is an aftermarket transmission and it appears that the studs were put in slightly forward from where they should be. I believe it is a Baker however, it is about 20 years old. It's installed on a 1955 Harley hardtail frame with a 1983 Shovel Head motor.

In the past he drilled out the holes on the kicker cover in order to move it back slightly so the kicker gear would mesh with the transmission. This has worked but ends up breaking parts after a while because the gears still do not mesh as much as they should. He now has a new kicker cover and gear. We don't mind drilling out the holes again because you can not see them once it is installed. However, we would like to get the cover back another 1/8" or so, so it will mesh better. We were thinking that we might grind down the studs slightly and see if we can get the extra room that way. Has anyone else seen or had this problem? He went through a few gears before we even figured out the alignment issue.

Personally, I would opt for electric start but he's got a case of OCD and has a hard time with change. Any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks