The cam and spring are fastened to the body of the reel and I didn't take either of them off so they can't be on backwards.
I 'think' it has to do with how its engaging the spindle. That cam piece has a little tit on it that fits up into a slot in a part that is essentially a roller bearing cartidge. i DID take that apart, so I think its something in there. The diagram doesn't explode that part (roller clutch assembly) so I can't really see if I didn't get it back together right. I did swap it out with the roller clutch assembly from my other reel that I haven't cleaned yet and it still won't grab. Then I put it back into the other reel and now that one won't grab.

There's something obvious I'm missing.

BKb