Came home from running errands, shut it off, went out about an hour later and it won't start..
There is nothing when you turn the key. The needle on the heat gauge tops out when I turn the key all the way which I never noticed it doing before.
I tried jumping the solenoid and it started...so it's something electrical in the ignition system.
The connections on the starter look clean, no corrosion.
Battery is fully charged but I tried boosting it to eliminate that possibility and still won't start.
Every since I bought the car every now and then it would do this but if I let the clutch out and depressed it again, the car would start.
I assumed the safety switch was out of adjustment and never bothered looking into it.
Well..the switch has been bypassed by a previous owner, so that isn't the cause.
I just got done replacing the ignition switch (not the cylinder)and still nothing.
I haven't traced the wire from the solenoid back yet but on what I did look at I didn't see a fuseable link.
Anyone have any suggestions?
The car isn't fuel injected so there is no computer.

 

bueller....bueller???

 

Sounds like you're going to find out what has power and what doesn't. Here's your diagram http://austinthirdgen.org/mkportal/m..._continued.gif

 

I think I have it narrowed down to the ignition switch...which was the first thing I replaced. lol
I found a relay spliced into the wiring harness for the neutral safety switch which I'm assuming was part of the anti theft system.
I got rid of that..which didn't fix the problem.
There is power on the "firewall" side of the 3 fusable links coming from the starter so it's losing power somewhere between there and the purple wire...

 

Is there power at the yellow where the clutch switch used to be?

 

No there wasn't..and it was the ignition switch. I didn't have it adjusted right....