Solved Ok - so I dug into the starter and found a bolt completely missing, one half screwed in and the starter hanging at an angle. Replaced the missing bolt, retorqued the other two and PRESTO, no more noise, car starts like a champ. I love it when the solution is this easy!
Another happy wagon ready for fun! Seems as though a lot of starter bolts are coming loose lately! Maybe some lock tight and lock washers?
Yeah - definitely did a lock washer. I don't want to have to replace the top bolt again. Between the manifold, tranny dip stick and engine block it was about a 20 minute process to tighten it, 1MM at a time!
