I've had my 68 Camaro since I was in High School. Over the years she has gone through three colors and two engines. After college I ran out of money to keep her running and happy and into the garage she went. All in all I have owner her about 24 years.

Now that my kids are getting a little older I have some more free time and money to get her back to the road.

In the past few months I have replaced the front bumper, reinstalled the door panels, replaced the body bushings (that were barely there but not bad for 44 years old), new battery, rebuilt the carb, swapped out the fake SS gas cap for a plain bowtie cap, installed battery disconnect, had three point seat belts installed in the front and back.

Now I'm in the process of: swapping out the steering wheel (it got sticky and gross) and swapping out the points distributor. I'm also troubleshooting a starting problem. For now I have to put the key into the run position and then hotwire the starter to the battery via a homemade setup of clips and a button switch.

I'm excited to get her back on the road and doing it all with my 8 year old son makes it even sweeter.

At one point I was dead set on making her a SS clone. Now I just want a sleek look with no emblems at all. I should start trying to sell all of those little SS things I bought over the years.

 

hay rsheele68 welcome to the forum, good to have you with us. sounds like the ignition switch or wiring is bad, could be in the solonoid but being it works with a hotwire its not likely.

 

Welcome aboard.

 

Thank you for the information and welcome! I did swap out the ignition switch as a first step of troubleshooting...no joy was had though. I'm going to start tracing wires. I'm suspecting that something got yanked or chewed by a critter.

 

a weak solonoid can fail except when it gets direct 12 volt juice. there is a loss of volts/amps when the power is directed through all the wiring and switches. many a time i had to use a screwdriver to start a car till i could replace the solonoid.

 

When I turn the key I get absolutely nothing. No clicks, grunts, chunks.... as if it is a 100% dead battery. could a weak solenoid show up like that?

 

not that i can remember, usually get a click. have you tested for volts at the small wire on the starter when the key is turned to start? test at the switch first to make sure you have power coming out.

 

Welcome to CF. Since you're not even getting a click at the solenoid, but it works fine when hot-wired, then the issue wouldn't be with the starter itself. You have a wiring problem. The start wire to the solenoid may be broken, anywhere from there to the ignition switch. Could still be with the switch, if it's out of adjustment the same as the old one was (if it was).

 

Thanks for the ideas. I will be trying them all out this weekend. Until then it's pretty much just work and going to wrestling practice with my son.

 

does the 68 have a clutch ignition switch, and if its an auto then check the park/nutural switch.