Laserjohn

OK, I have replaced my heater core (that was fun)...but it was successful. Actually I don't know if it was successful because now with everything connected back and dash-in and battery connected...I get my accessory power on when key is ON, but not even a click when I turn key to START. The things I have tried thus far (I have a wiring diagram for my 1980)

First, I would like to say three things:
1)The car worked fine until I replaced the heater core
2) I inadvertently zapped my computer with + of battery. That will screw me later likely, but I don't think it has anything to do with the starting of the car?
3)My "ppl" wire that is supposed to go from neutral safety switch to the solenoid is NOT purple at my solenoid, it is orange, Hopefully this doesn't mean that I have trace wires, I have continuity between the switch and that orange wire, so I am thinking it is OK.

-Battery is nice and charged
-battery terminals are clean
-removed and replaced the battery-starter wire (cleaned and making good contact)
-The park/neutral safety switch was OHM'd short in park, open out of park
-I turned key to start and measured volts to ground from yellow wire to neutral safety switch (12.6V OK)
-I jumpered neutral safety switch connector and still no click when turn key to start


It is just very odd that this would happen now, right out of the blue, that kinda tells me that I plugged in something that may have not been plugged in (for a reason ) when I put the dashboard back in, perhaps the stock anti-theft circuit?

If I remove the fuse for the anti-theft circuit, will that completely disable the whole system?

According to the wiring diagram, there are no other interlocks to stop the car from starting...I'll say it again it is just odd that this would happen now. (Unless the shock from the battery to the computer case fried the solenoid? But I can't see a path in the wiring for that to happen.) So before I purchase a starter/solenoid and do the swap...am I missing something?

71VetteLover

This summer I suddenly began having a "no crank" problem every time I drove my '71 25 miles or more (meaning it was at full operating temperature). It had to cool off an hour or more before it would crank so it was definitely a heat related issue of some kind. After a LOT of searching I finally discovered the problem was a bad connection between the purple wires of my neutral safety switch and the purple wires of my wiring harness (under my shifter plate). The neutral safety switch had a 12" double purple wire pigtail with a plastic plugin on the end and that plastic plugin plugged into a two purple wire plastic plugin on the wiring harness. The brass terminals inside the plugins were very discolored from being hot so I cut the plugins off and butt connected the purple wires together and that cured the problem. So it was just a bad connection under my shifter plate.

TimAT

Check the 6-way connector at the starter extension harness. I bet it got rattled during your heater core change. It's on the firewall just to the right of the distributor on the firewall.

Laserjohn

Ya know, it turned out to be the solenoid. After I was absolutely positive that the ignition 12V made it all the way to starter without any high resistance connections, I swapped the starter out, and thing fired up without a problem...

However, I did find out why my purple wire is now orange thanks to looking at that plug you suggested. I'm guessing the purple wire DID go to #6, because it was melted and completely gone, I found the purple wire butt spliced into the orange wire as I picked through the mass of wires.