Solved! (I think).
There were 2 wires that were frayed, 1 was broken, they were also touching each other.
These were the 2 small red wires that are also attached to the larger red wire that goes to the + battery terminal. The broken one was responsible for the intermittent starter problems as well. Once repaired, the engine revved to 10+k rpm in my short test on the stand.
I let them sag and they rubbed against the ground!
Thanks for the input and thoughts.
Samir.