So I recently completed my build, and was having a no crank condition with the key turn. I got some great advice on here, and was eventually able to trace it back to the ground connector on the transmission case. That ground lug had 6 wires going to it, but only one of them was actually connected to the lug, the rest had corroded through and were only held in place by the crimps. I fixed that, and was able to start the goblin without jumping the ground from the crank relay. It still ran pretty rough, but it did run.. for about a minute. When it died, I was able to restart it, but it died again pretty quick. When I tried to restart it the third time, there was a short, loud, squeal from the engine, and then nothing. After that, when I turned the key, it only went "clunk" but the starter did not crank.
Now, I knew the battery was pretty well junk, as it had been sitting in the donor car on the insurance lot over the winter, and I've had to charge it whenever I wanted to test anything, and the clunks sounded like the solenoid closing but the battery not having enough amperage to crank, so I replaced the battery. Now, with the battery at full charge, when I turn the key it will crank, but only very slowly and only for a little (a couple seconds tops) before it starts. I'm leaning towards a bad starter at this point, but you guys have way more experience with this stuff than I do, what do you think? I should add that the weird electrical stuff isn't all gone, I still don't have working taillights (the brake lights, turn signals, and reverse lights function, but no taillight function), and the car thinks the brights are on when they are not, and vise versa (the head lights behave correctly, just the bright indicator is reversed).
Now, I knew the battery was pretty well junk, as it had been sitting in the donor car on the insurance lot over the winter, and I've had to charge it whenever I wanted to test anything, and the clunks sounded like the solenoid closing but the battery not having enough amperage to crank, so I replaced the battery. Now, with the battery at full charge, when I turn the key it will crank, but only very slowly and only for a little (a couple seconds tops) before it starts. I'm leaning towards a bad starter at this point, but you guys have way more experience with this stuff than I do, what do you think? I should add that the weird electrical stuff isn't all gone, I still don't have working taillights (the brake lights, turn signals, and reverse lights function, but no taillight function), and the car thinks the brights are on when they are not, and vise versa (the head lights behave correctly, just the bright indicator is reversed).