Here’s a little tool I built years ago to hold those pesky starter brushes in place while assembling these style of starters. It’s just a thin piece of aluminum with a slot cut in it to clear the shaft and it slides over the end cap. Once the cap has started on the shaft, it is simply pulled back out. The beauty of it is you can load the brushes and springs into the end cap, slide this thing over it and put it away until you are ready to work on the starter again.
