You're not likely to find a new starter for a 1954 engine. They'll all be rebuilt. It sounds like you've got a bad starter drive, (sometimes called a "Bendix") It's an easy swap that doesn't require reworking the whole starter.
Jerry

"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!