OK! I got a little laugh at this one . not at you but rather at myself. I always rotated the starter housing to get the wire connections out from under the carb for clearance and more accessibility. Did this many a time.
The last motor I did acted exactly as you described. Well crap! I'm thinking my starter clutch has died! Installed a fresh clutch, buttoned up the motor...Same symptom!!! WTF!!!! Split the case again and this time observe the starter spinning the clutch. The starter motor is spinning backwards!!! The clutch has to spin in one direction only to engage the crank. It's spinning opposite. I'm scratching my head What the F### is going on here??
I move the starter connections back to their original position, the starter turns in the correct direction and the motor fires right off! I don't know why or how come and don't understand why simply rotating the starter housing would cause this..
I haven't had time to figure what I did wrong. I'm wondering what could be different about this starter than earlier version I have used in the past. I just don't know, Whatever it is, the trick didn't work this time.
It appears you have experienced the same phenomenon.
