Holy cow and a half.
Just finished putting everything back together.
Took apart the old solenoid, cleaned up contacts. Had to take a few windings off the coil to have enough wire where previous wires, [I think this was my whole problem]. Heat shrink tubing on wire. Soldered a new wire in for one side. Put back together, and tried it. ....
Didn't work. Starter acted like it was in a bind.
Mental note: I took that top off previously. So I dig back into the starter. Went ahead and took emery cloth and cleaned the armature. Had to solder a wire back on for one of the brushes, and put heat shrink on several wires where the old cloth sheath had worn off from the previous 39 years of use. ..haha
Put everything back together. An just bench tested it, and holy hell. I've never seen this starter crank so fast!
Learned alot along the way, and looking good as far as it working!
Alright, now for the real test. About to throw it in!
Wish me luck!