At long last the starter saga is over.  To refresh you on this post, I've
now removed my 90 Vanagon starter five times beginning on it's first visit
to a rebuilder (now retired), and 4 subsequent visits to the local Bosch
shop to resolve an issue with the starter not engaging the ring gear
consistently and a recently discovered issue of 600+ amps of current draw.
I'm pretty sure the current issue was there from day 1, because I brought
it in during the engine conversion ... it was cranking slower than typical.

After the initial rebuild (really I just got a broken starter back) I've
now replaced the solenoid, final drive assembly and a bushing.

As usual, this time the elderly German fellow running the shop (been in the
business all his life ???) insisted that there was nothing wrong with it.
They did however replace the internal rear bushing....which he claimed
really didn't need replacing.  He did suggest that I had an issue with
engine timing, improper starter alignment, bad battery etc. etc. cuz how
could it possibly be the starter?  Well I politely kept my mouth shut, took
two steps to the left, gave up another 30 bucks, and uttered a silent
prayer.

I popped it back in and lo and behold, small cherubs sang from the rafters
of my garage, trumpets rang out and maidens wept ... at long last the
starter engages 100% and spins the crap out of the 2.0 litre I4 attached to
it.  It started so fast it scared me.