Well it was a long strange trip but the old girl's heart is beating again! After reading some more of Kirby's book I found one more thing to try before taking drastic measures. I removed the zener diode from the amp and threw everything back together. Whirled it over and it sputtered! The hairs on the back of my neck started to stand up, I held my breath and hit the key again. Started right up like nothing had ever been wrong! I appreciate everyone that has helped me troubleshoot the issue I had and I look forward to finding the next obstacle to overcome in my mission to get this thing back on the rad where it belongs. And with all of that said...GOODNIGHT!

 

Congratulations, great feeling when they run isn't it. Could you post a pic or a description of which bit the zenor diode is, please? (for the electronically challenged!)

greg

 

Well Done!
The beauty of this site is not only have we built up a knowledge base but you know have educated us further.

 

Yes hearing that v12 come to life was a very rewarding experience. Definitely encouraging! The zener diode is in the ignition amplifier box and is the round capsule pressed into a hole in the top cover of the box. You will see it in the first pic I attached. The wire that goes to the diode has black electrical tape on it in the picture. I couldn't find anything on how to test this particular diode to see if it was shorted. I know how to test a normal diode with leads on both sides of it to see if it is working but there is only one lead on the diode in the amplifier. I didn't know if I would get good readings by just probing the wire lead and connecting the other side of my meter to ground so I just disconnected it, insulated the wire lead and hooked everything else back up. Worked like a charm!

 

Read one of the earlier posts in this thread and Grant Francis hit the nail on the head with his suggestion to disconnect the zener. Thanks very much Grant Francis!!