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OK replaced battery, positive cable, negative cable, switched from manual to electronic points, new coil, new distributor cap
put the key in and ......nothing no clicks, no rrr-rrr-rrr, nothing
pull the light switch and the lights are dim.
The battery is good even tried jumping it and nothing.
The negative cable i bought was too short so i went and got another one so i am done for tonight ...but i am also out of ideas so for tomorrow anyone got some suggestions.
Steve

 

check all your grounds.

 

alright i was hoping someone would suggest this (well not really)
how many grounds do i have? obviously the battery to motor ..this cable was really tore up so i got a new one tonight. the place the old one was mounted is quite rusty so i plan on wire brushing it up some and seeing if that helps.
So besides that ground where next?

 

Well on my 66 coupe, I have the positive battery cable going to the starter silenoid, then the negative battery cable to the block. Do you have an aftermarket ignition system (msd or the like?) or did you put in the petronix conversion?

 

positive from battery to starter sileniod
ground to block
I installed the pertronix ignitor and flamethrower
connected the ignition wire to the positive side of the coil

 

Did you hook up the negative side to the coil?

 

well the negative side of the coil is connected to the black pertronix cable that comes out of the distributor
red to positive black to the negative
the top of the coil is connected to the center of the distributor
...hmm
should there be a connector from the positive off the battery to the coil? or to the starter solenoid to the coil?
let me find a diagram

 

in any case the pertronix shouldn't give you much of a problem here (yet) as the engine is not even turning over.

check this post for checking on starter issues:
https://mustangforums.com/m_5260032/tm.htm

2nd half of my long post is how to troubleshoot a starting problem (as in engine does not turn)

 

alrighty
new and larger gauge negative battery cable to the block
it now does the rrr rrr rrr like a dead or dying battery when turning the key
the headlights are still really dim
I think wire brushing the block my help a bit but I cannot believe the battery is dead or low. But will carry it up to advanced for a diag tomorrow.
Any more suggestions?
Thanks

 

Did you try to jumper the starter? Do an amp draw test from the starter. If its pulling more amps from the battery than it should, you have a mechanical issue.