Hey Manuel, I'm sitting down here in Fresno, in my truck, on a surveillance about an hour away from you....tow the rig down here and we'll check it out!
Seriously, since I don't have anything else to do and I am paying 60 bucks a month for Verizon Wireless Internet, I thought I'd throw a couple of thoughts at you: I am always suspicious when a car just all of sudden fails to start. That blue wire from the alternator might be more important than you think...or other wires, since you HAVE been "housecleaning" parts and systems from your car.
But let's get back to basics: if all you are getting is a "click", you can put the timing/carburetor/charging aspects on the back burner for a bit...you need to be isolating on the starting circuit,
SPECIFICALLY from the battery terminals all the way through the relay to the starter/solenoid...not much else will cause a click.
In my experience, 8 times out of 10, a "click" and non-start turns out to be corroded battery posts and/or terminals. Since nothing else has worked, pull the terminals off of the posts (try to wiggle them by hand first to see if they might have worked loose) and then
clean the posts well....and my version of "well" might seem a little obsessive/compulsive, but it works! It goes like this:
The first step is shoot some Acid Corrosion Neutralizer over the posts, and if you don't have any, then a can of Coca-Cola really DOES work...pour about a 1/4 can slowly across both posts and terminals--wire ends included--and let it sit for a minute or so. Then I pour a little water over everything just to get rid of the yuck.
Next, I take a small-bladed pocket knife and literally scrape the entire post down to the shiny soft metal underneath the gray scale--it's that gray scale that keeps you from getting proper contact by being a barrier between the metals of the posts and the terminals. Scrape it until the whole post looks shiny and new. A battery brush does not work for me as well as doing it this way, especially if the gray corrosion scale is really thick.
Now would be a great time to check the charge on the battery, preferably with an "Under-Load" Tester, even if it means taking it down to have it done (I think Kragen, AutoZone, Chief, and Napa stores will test it free). At least then you can eliminate the battery as being part of the problem! And if it does need charged, you can get the terminals and wires ready while it's charging. (You can investigate WHY it needs charging later.)
Next, I take a good look at the terminals....if they are a mess, with more work involved than I want to give them, you can pick up a brand new set (2) for less than 5 bucks almost anywhere...and I know for a fact there's a WalMart in Turlock!! Even then, I STILL scrape the insides of the
new ones with my knife....hey, I'm going to all this trouble, no sense in taking short cuts now!
After installing the new terminals onto the wires, I spray the posts and the terminals with the nasty reddish Permatex Battery Sealant/Protectant/Corrosion Inhibitor in the blue can...Napa makes a good product for this also. I also usually put a set of those red (positive) and green (negative) felt washers on the posts BEFORE installing the terminals. I also soak the felt washers with the protectant/corrosion inhibitor stuff, and then install the terminals, negative terminal first (in case you accidentally bump the positive terminal against metal as you are installing it).
Lastly,
don't make the mistake of "just barely" installing either of the terminals...even if it means opening up the terminal first, I always make sure the terminal seats all the way down on the post....seems like a little thing, but 5/8" of contact all around the post is 1/8" better than 1/2" of contact.
Then check and tighten ALL connections in the starting circuit, including the wires at the starter. This whole
Reply to your Post may seem like basic common sense, but often in our haste to "nail down the problem" so we can get back on the road, we head straight for all the hi-tech solutions, and it turns out to be something basic and common!
This might not be your problem at all, but at least you'll be able to eliminate the battery circuit as being the cause of it. AND I promise you won't have to worry about Battery Posts or Terminal Corrosion for a long time. As I said Manuel, in all of my Shade Tree Mechanic days, when I hear "click" I automatically think, "Electrical Connection, Starter Solenoid Circuit, or Battery and/or Battery Connections." (Once in a blue moon it turns out to be a bad ignition switch, but that's rare.) We didn't have all the diagnostic instruments available today (or couldn't afford them) back then, and we had to find the causes of problems by the "seat of our pants."
And--in a Hypothetical World--if somehow you
COULD bring the car to my "stake-out" (I just love that word), the first--very first--thing I would do is the procedure I just described.
I have some business in Turlock this Friday, if you haven't got it running by Thursday afternoon, PM me here and I'll get together with you, (and your '74), on Friday afternoon or Saturday morning, and we'll see if we can't figure that thing out.Hey Manuel, we SE owners have to hang together....all the R/T/500/Rallye/Bee guys do !! Jer.