I didn't have the chance today to do any more work on it...but tomorrow I hope to.

I'll do the test on the starter as you guys have described...but I'm really thinking it's a switch stuck or froze open. When I say I had the key turned on, the battery was disconnected the whole time, so no drawdown on the battery. The key was just "on" so I could turn the steering wheel and get my route open for taking out and putting in the starter.

And just so I'm clear on the starter wiring and terminology being used...the lower heavy terminal connects with the large wire/power lug or positive wire from the battery. And the small wire is connected to the upper heavy terminal. There's a third very small wire which is connected with a small phillips screw...but I'm guessing that's some sort of ground and it doesn't come into play with anything we're discussing so far. Sound right?

Thanks guys!