I had sent one set of cracked cases and a OEM replacement for cnc reproduction in a stronger billet aluminum, but then "heard" someone else was doing this so the project got tossed on "hold". You dont need everyone reinventing the wheel, it is usually cheaper to purchase an ready made part than to pioneer your own.
I also went to a gear shop for construction of new starter gears from an upgraded material. The engineer claimed he could make a stronger gear from a better material, but also remarked the OEM gears are not made from poor materials.
They could be improved upon but as anything this costs money and a limited market the initial set up costs have to be absorbed somewhere.
Yosh-USA mentioned back in september 99 the higher compression pistons (12.3+) tend to aggravate the problem of the broken cases and crank/starter clutch spline failure.
