Hi,
In contuination to my starting problem, i noticed that when i turn the key to cranking position my starter just makes a loud click noise.
Today while checking ground wires and trying again i saw that the radio antenna starts to retract and upon releasing the key it goes back up again.

Is this normal or an indication of some short of some kind.

Thanks Sean

 

It is normal.

The radio gets no power when the key is in "start", so the antenna will be told to go down.

Check your battery cable connections at the battery. Take them off and clean the corrosion out of them.

 

yes i have been thinking the same. I did have a corroded ground connecton which i cleaned up.
But as you said i plan to chekc the battery connection to the starter B terminal and the fusible links.