Im in the middle of reinstalling the engine I rebuilt back in my NA 88. When I hooked up the battery the starter motor started whirring, but the key isn't even in the car. I took a spare starter I had lying around and tried hooking it up to see if it would fix it but no luck there. Any helpful advise would be appreciated, thanks.

You have a wiring problem. I have played around with every single combo of mismatching wires to the wrong terminals ect, and I haven't ever been able to do that. Does the starter motor just spin or is it engaged to the flywheel?

the starter is not engaging the flywheel, but the gear snaps in and out on the starter when it is out of the car at least.

Are you sure you have it hooked up right?

Im pretty sure its hooked up right, the bigger wire is hooked to the copperish colored terminal without any other wires and the second little wire just goes on the pin. If that makes any sense.