do not use a hammer on the Paso starter unless you`re willing to ruin it !

starter had bad brushes - removed starter and put new brushes in - spins great now...also cleaned all terminals from battery down..it was occasionally stalling (not fuel related - it's got mikuni flatslides which are performing admirably..) - it seems it would just lose spark at idle occasionally...hopefully that was a dirty terminal/low voltage issue - maybe it's fixed - hopefully...

did you like the gasket that is reccomended as they no longer make the casing gasket. did you clean up the commutator with some light emry paper and between the contacts with the back of a hacksaw blade to make sure there was no shorts in the rotor.
Rodney

original gasket was still in excellent condition.
cleaned com with scotchbrite, painted inside of back cover with dielectric paint. used air to clean between rotor contacts, made new witness marks on outside of case so if i ever have to get in there again, it'll be easy to line things up....built it better than the factory did...