“Generator not charging” question

[KMBeers]

I know this topic has been covered in a bunch of other posts but I am new to this and I am looking for confirmation I am at least “barking up the right tree” with my troubleshooting. My generator is not charging the battery. This is something new, it always shows 10 amps at 30+ mph driving but on a ride over the weekend I discovered that it went to zero. When you turn on the ignition the ammeter shows a slight discharge, normal for my car. When you turn on the headlights or push on the brake pedal there is from 3 to 8 amp discharge with non-LED bulbs. All of these things make me believe it is not the ammeter and the issue is between the generator and the cutout. Here are the other things I have discovered:
1) there is no voltage between the generator output terminal and ground with the engine running at 1500 rpm or so.
2) I removed the cover on the cutout and the contacts don’t ever close. The voltage between the cut out battery post and ground with the engine running at 1500 rpm or so is 6.2 volts i.e.the engine is running on the battery.
3) If I push contacts closed with a wood shim while the engine is running, the voltage drops to 5.4 volts. Adjusting the 3rd brush has no impact on the generator voltage.
4) I removed the generator from the car and on the bench I applied full battery voltage to the generator, positive lead to the case, negative lead to the output terminal and the generator runs as a motor.

My read on all of this is the cutout is bad and needs to be replaced (and the generator is ok). Am I missing something or looking at things wrong? Any thoughts will be appreciated.