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Exactly the same for me… when cold all the way to the floor. When warm barely touch it and she fires right up. Unless my dreaded issue occurred and then I get nothing no mater how far down I push the peddle or how many times.

Pipesargent;

At some point you will need to develop evidence on which systems are good, and finally which system is erratic.

As HH56 pointed out binding post ‘GA’ is the source of current for the instruments, turn signals, and the starting circuit. You mentioned all three of those circuits in your initial posting, so I would try is to bypass the ignition switch and ‘hot-wire’ binding post ‘GA’.

I’m also biased on the negative side about the Carter starting switch, so I would also add two wires and a SPST switch as a parallel circuit that electrically mimics the Carter CarStarter. With that switch you can conduct a start attempt with any throttle position you desire, and if the engine cranks 100% of the time (GA not hot-wired) you could concluded that the Carter system needs some investigation. Others on this forum have reported success by exercising the Carter contacts by depressing the throttle several times with the ignition key OFF. When I had my unit apart I was taken how simple the switch is, but I was concerned on what ensured positive contact of the ‘W’- shaped contact spring to the blocks. You need two low resistance contacts for that system to succeed, so in my opinion clean contacts are a must, and perhaps some tarnish or fuel residue is the root cause of your problem . . . but that leaves the instruments and turn signals un-explained . . . I think I would ‘hot-wire’ ‘GA’ as the first diagnostic test.

dp

Thanks tomorrow I will do the dreaded maneuver under the dash and check out the GA wiring to see if it is clean. Then move to the starting switch.

One thing to mention about exercising the starter switch is each time you push the accelerator you will squirt gas into the manifold until the carb fuel bowl is empty. This extra gas will thoroughly flood the engine so I would suggest you go inside for awhile and do not try to start the engine for maybe half an hour after the last pump. Even waiting, the excess gas can still foul the plugs quite well so just something else to be aware of.

I can all but guarantee that the switch on the carb needs cleaning with particular attention to the steel ball which is sometimes sticking up in its little passage causing a no-start. The fact that the car will not re-start points to that; after a while the ball drops and the switch works again.

Take the switch apart, wipe down all the pieces with a rag wet with some carb cleaner. Polish up the steel ball (you can pull it out with a little magnet) and shoot a little carb cleaner down the hole for good measure. Be sure to replace the plunger with the notch facing UP. We are talking a 7 minute job.

The white smoke issue needs some attention as that would normally be sign of a dead short somewhere.

I think I have had less trouble over the years with carb starter switches than with key-start ignition switches.

We have a new twist to the plot! I checked the ignition switch wiring and connections and all are clean. I then started up the car all was good for about 4 min when I pressed the headlamp switch for the headlights the engine died and I have zero power to the car not even enough juice to light the courtesy lights.

Just a quick addition…. The battery is at full charge and when I reconnect the terminals and flash the voltage regulator I get nothing. No spark… yes I am touching only the battery and generator like the instructions say for a Delco voltage regulator.

Did you clean the battery cable terminals when you put in the battery. Headlights do not go thru the ign switch. Power is always present and is connected directly to the battery via one of the red wires that is on the same starter solenoid terminal as the battery cable. That red wire goes directly to the ammeter, then another wire out of the ammeter has a splice point where it branches to the headlight and ignition switches and a circuit breaker.

The symptom sounds very much like what happens if one or both battery terminals has corroded or is making a poor mechanical connection. At times the connection might be good but other times the least little jar and the oxidized layer will act like a huge resistance and current will not pass. The usual place that gets dirty is in the round circle that goes over the post but if there was a lot of corrosion at one time the corrosion could have grown and creeped down inside the terminal where the wires are. Corrosion down there is usually not seen but can be just as insulating. It could also happen at the other end but not nearly as often or as likely. Rust at the ground connection is more the issue at the engine ends.

Nope they are super clean. Made sure not only are the posts clean but the wiring is clean and in good working order. No corrosion or dirt.

If the cables are good the next logical place to check would be the ammeter. Some have had issues with intermittent connections or other odd things happening inside them.

You could temporarily connect both wires now going to the ammeter to the same terminal in back. Just remember or mark which wire was which. Doing that will bypass the ammeter so it does not function but will provide a direct connection to things that were acting up today. If the problem goes away enough said and if not, at least something was ruled out.