Mystery Starter

hello everyone,
The starter on my 1955 Willys universal needs a new Bendix and the stamping on the armature does not seem to match up with those listed in parts suppliers catalogs. The Willys has a push button starter on the dash that does not seem original, I am thinking maybe it was a rigged up replacement for the floor starter button when the floor rotted out. It is to the left of the steering column. The key turns right but does not have the spring loaded return, it just clicks over and stays there.
The armature is stamped Mch-2086 and the neck of the Bendix housing is marked 2271.
The starter has been rebuilt at some point and looks okay on the inside. The Bendix won't fully retract and drags on the flywheel. I have a hunch that it is the wrong bendix. It's stamped "Arrow rebuilt". I have not had the jeep running since taking ownership and don't know much about its previous running state.
Thanks for your help in advance,
-Rob W.

 

Sorry new to this so have to read up on posting pics. It's apart right now so I can dig for relevant #'s!

 

Pics just click and drag for me.

 

Have the same issue with my 62 Pickup with the 226. It too, like yours, will not retract fully and would make noise when I turned the motor by hand while i was working on freeing up the stuck intake valves. Disassembled the starter and I have an Accurate brand bendix stamped "REBUILT". Only number I find on the starter is on the nose housing - PS-1359. Funny how even when it sticks it still cranked the engine fine.

On the plus side though, I managed to get 2 of the 3 stuck intake valves to move as they should, but the intake valve on six still needs a baby hammer tap to close. Pretty good since it was tap, tap, tap tap with the hammer to close the whole way when I first started on it.

 

Basically I need to know which Bendix goes with my starter. Any ideas. There are two available but the part numbers for either available Bendix don't match the code stamped on the armature (Mch-2086). Thanks.

 

Your Prestolite starter should have a number stamped into the housing. If rebuilt, it may have a lester number. The bendix is normally assigned to the starter number and not the armature.