ok, so I went poking around some more...
I think the fusible link has been bypassed...not sure, but I think this was it...
also the safety switch has been bypassed...
I started unwrapping wires down near the starter...where the previous owner had hacked away, lol...so I could get a better look and try to figure stuff out.
still had one wire with a female connector that I wasn't sure where it went (I figured it out a little later...I'll get back to that)
so I started testing voltage up the big red starter solenoid wire, as it went from connector to connector, until I got up to the connector just before the key switch, and it all tested fine.
one thing I noticed was that when I turned the key two clicks to the glowplug, the voltage dropped two whole volts down to 10.3...
anyways, kept searching and found a fuse holder with two 25amp fuses...one of which looked like it melted.
so cleaned out the holder and put in new fuses with some dielectric silicone...
So, for some reason, I went back down to the starter and looked at that stray wire again and noticed it was hanging on by a thread and when I pulled on it, it broke.
So I respliced it and heat shrank it and it is all good now...
that is when, for some reason, something just clicked.
In all my years working on cars, I suddenly recognized that connector. I put my light over to look at the other side of the solenoid and there it was...
I had missed it and I sure filled like a dope after.
I immediately knew this was the problem , jumped up into the seat, depressed the clutch, and turned the key and it turned over!
I tried again, and it caught, puffed a little smoke, and started running!
Good grief, to finally hear it run after all this time and work was just music to my ears.
My wife was inside the house when she heard it running and she ran outside and gave me a big hug.
so, it idled for a couple of minutes then died.
I checked the fuel filter petcock switch, then started it again. It ran for another couple minutes then died again...so there is something going on, but none of that was enough to quell my enthusiasm for the fact that it ran.
more later!