1950s 1950 Delco Remy Starter gear clicks out but won't spin!

[ToddH]

1950 Cadillac original Delco Remy Starter WAS working ok but I took it off to repaint the outside along with oil pan, etc.  I must have jostled something as I put it back on because silence/nothing...  So, I took the starter off, bench tested it and the solenoid clicks the gear out but the gear barely spun.  Ok, so then I took it all apart, put new brushes on and cleaned everything!  Put it back together and the gear still clicks out but now it won't spin at all. UGH. 

Bad clutch housing, armature, solenoid, coils or???  Everything seems to be wired back correctly, battery fully charged. Thank you for any help!

[Cadillac Jack 82]

Solenoid or bad connection.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

Check the contacts in the back of the Solenoid are in good condition, and that the copper disc is still in place to complete the power transfer when the solenoid is fully retracted.

These are designed to not rotate until the Bendix is fully engaged with the Ring Gear.

Bruce.

[Jeff Hansen]

Todd,

You mentioned you painted the starter.  Make sure ALL mounting surfaces are clean bare metal - no paint!  This goes for the solenoid, too.  Everything has to ground to complete the electrical circuit.

Jeff

[Big Fins]

Bruce mentioned a copper disc in the solenoid. This takes a beating. If you remove the cap and can take the disc out, it can be put on a wire wheel to polish it, or just invert it (flip it over) to a brand new side.

Yeah, we used to do that back in the day at the cheapie rebuild shops. 

[ToddH]

GENIUSES, all of you!! I took apart the solenoid to check on the copper disc washer and yep, it was totally pitted and marred. The other side was perfect so polished it, rotated the screw head, cleaned everything else and put it all back together.  The disc wasn't contacting the two solenoid screws very well either as the whole setup was skewed a bit so I straightened out what I could. 

I AlSO scraped off any painted areas that may have had grounding issues.  I then bench tested it with my 6 volt battery and TA DA!!  Hooked it back up and she starts like a charm.  Huge relief, thank you men!! 

PS - This car has been in our family since 1962!  We used it as our wedding car in 1988.  It was my uncles this whole time until last year when he turned 93 and asked if we wanted to buy it from him.  Heck ya.  Memories for a lifetime...