tim, sounds like the ignition switch, but possibly the starter solenoid. if
the guages are moving when you turn the key, then you have positive voltage
out of the switch and most probably positive voltage to the coil. on my old
gt6 the starter solenoid was conveniently on the firewall next to the
battery. the easy test is to jumper across it (the two big nuts with heavy
wires) after you turn the ignition to 'on' and of course after the car is in
neutral and the e-brake is set. the starter will turn so don't jump. you
can also take a set of jumper cables, just the red cable, put one end on
plus of battery and reach down and touch the starter where the heavy wire
goes to it. oh, take a test light or meter and put it on the + coil and
turn the engine by hand so that the contact points open (remove dist cap to
watch). ok, 1. put test light on dist + with key 'on' and turn engine by
hand, watch for points to open. should get +12v. this tells you ignition
switch is working to power circuits. 2. after putting dist cap back on and
everything set (choke etc) for start, jumper across starter solenoid and see
if starter cranks. if it does, check the starter solenoid, one of the
smaller wires should have +12v when key is held in start position (you will
need a helper for this unless you put the meter or test light on the
windscreen (note i did not say windshield :)) and can see it from the
drivers seat. if you never see +12v on the starter solenoid with the key
held in start position, then the wiring from ignition switch to starter
solenoid is bad. if you do have the +12v at solenoid, then the solenoid
must be bad. i forget what wire is the wire from ignition switch to
solenoid. you need the schematic for that. on my gt6, the back of the
ignition switch used to fall off - i don't know why. i ended up having to
electrical tape it on hard (many wraps). that made everything go dead when
it fell off. good luck.
larry lstein6@earthlink.net
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