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My son’s 1976 wouldn’t start and we jumped it. Auto Zone tested the battery and it was dead, which we replaced. We went to start it with the new battery and nothing. We attached jumper cables again and it fired right up. AZ said the new battery was good and 75% charged.
Our ideas are:
Bad battery ground
Bad starter ground
Ignition switch
Why would a new battery be 75 percent charged? If it starts with a jump, get another battery or take a close look at the battery cable terminals. Also have the charging system tested.
75% is not good. If you have a charger get it fully charged then try turning the key. What is the voltage on the new battery.?
Only other thing would be that since you are using a jumper and attaching it to the outside of the clamps, that the inside of the clamps are not clean?
Both grounds are easy to check:
If the starter is mounted to the block, it's grounded. (I believe in '76 there should still be a block ground by the passenger lower A-arm.)
The battery ground is easy to check as it's right under the battery box, connecting to the frame.
Definitely check those cables closely. Green corrosion under the insulation generally means new cables are the order of the day. The ground under the car, directly below the battery is a common connection problem. Remove, clean, apply a bit of grease and reinstall. I like to use a star washer at this location. The starter ground is a cable mounted to the block just above and in front of the starter and then over to the frame at the idler arm location. I had one of these go green. A new one made a world of difference. So, 3 cables to check.
And I might add. The others are correct, 75 percent charged is not good enough.