'61 6 volt starting issues

[Grewvey1]

I bought this car about 2 years ago and have completed, almost :-), a total body-off restoration. Literally every part, nut bolt and washer has been removed, perfected and replaced. Wiring is brand new and the vehicle started..intermittantly. Let me give specs - Original 40 HP 1200 motor, original 6v tranny, the starter is a "new" napa rebuild with an orignal Bosch rebuilt genny. After the ignition circuit was wired, the vehicle cranked and fired. It was a tear jerker...lemme tell ya! :-) However, I was having major generator issues with the Napa genny I bought initially. It was cooked out of the box. It never charged. anyway..... the issue I have is I can't get it to crank more than once. I know that sounds lame... It isn't a bad battery... I bought 3 new 6v batteries and they all can't be bad. After trying to crank the motor once, then once again, etc... I felt the batt cables and they were warmin up. I thought maybe an amp flow issue? Bad connectors somewhere? Bad starter?? I don't want to convert to 12v, and I know all about the Ford solenoid trick, but I want to keep it 100% original... Has anyone encountered a 6v system that simply didn't want to crank? When it get's lucky, it cranks 3 times or so and will start... but it is soooo hit and miss (like 1 out of 50 tries), I am freaking out! :-) Any ideas will be appreciated.
Looks at the bug: http://home.comcast.net/~joshandsony1/vw/vw.html

[boschmann]

What about the starter bushing, was it replaced. Try connecting a wire to the solenoid directly & see how it cranks.

[Grewvey1]

The transmission was rebuilt and a new bushing was installed. When the starter is tested off the car without a load, it engages and spins. when installed, with the flywheel load, it boggs down and will not crank... You think it's just another cooked starter?

[boschmann]

Can you put an ammeter on it? That would be the most definitive test.

[Grewvey1]

Unfortunately, I don't have an ammeter. Something else just came to my attention on this starter, however.. I just removed the starter to replace it - upon reinstallation, I was going to replace the starter bushing in the bell housing. Looks like when the tranny was rebuilt, a bushing was either not installed, or it was vaporized somehow. Could a bushing failure cause a no start situation like mine?

[boschmann]

Yes, a worn or missing bushing will cause the armature to rub on the windings. Sometimes the can still turn slowly, but usally draw too many amps and quit.