My Starter in Pieces!! Now what?? Please HELP! (Pics included)

[therookie13]

Well, I managed to pull off the starter over the weekend...for starters (haha no pun intended) the wire between the starter and the solenoid was rotted away to nothing. I took it up to Auto Zone and they said that without that wire I wouldn't be able to have it tested. So back to the garage we went and using a little ingenuity and some spare romexx, we soldered a new shiny piece of copper between the two. We hooked up the jumper cables ourselves and got some spinnning action from the starter but I think the solenoid is shot. Someone said that it would be pretty easy to see if the starter had issues by taking it apart and checking out the brushes. So tonight the demolition began. Once inside I realized that I have no idea what the heck I'm looking for...so here are the pics. PLEASE help. Anything look funny to anyone? I also realized that I have no idea what the brushes are so that makes it a little difficult to determine whether or not they are worn. The screws on the solenoid are soaking overnight (broke a few tools and figured I might as well not strip them) So what next?? Thank you all in advance!!!

~Heather