I'll try a hammer in the morning.

I also tried the following this evening...

external starter button switch connected to terminals on starter...it spun freely but no catch

jumped violet wire in sheath in front of battery to positive battery terminal...starter would lurch once but not catch

I also plan to check the ground wire from starter to chassis.

Btw, I noticed the negative and positive cables got real warm when I tried the violet wire jump and using the external starter bump switch...is that normal?