RECAP:
The original ground to battery strap was a thick braided cable bolted to the tranny.
Since the tranny is out, and won't be going back in till next week when I pick up a new clutch, I thought i'd focus on getting the motor running, so I duplicated the original strap method with a jumper cable from the battery to a freshly sanded off spot on the bell housing.
That resulted in solid headlights, turn signals, horn.. but very slow cranking motor.
I sanded off a spot of the frame next to the battery and used a pair of vice grips to clamp the end of the cable on to the shiny spot on the frame.
That resulted in solid headlights, turn signals, horn, AND increased the speed of the motor cranking over, but still not cranking over fast enough.
My thought at this point is whats happening is that whatever connection the frame has to the engine ground wise is not enough to get sufficient juice to the starter motor.
My next step will be to supply a solid HEAVY ground wire to both the engine and the frame, and give it a go. This is a truck, not a guitar, so i'm not worried about ground loops!
More news as it develops! And thanks again to everyone for their suggestions, comments, and tips! I'd probably not have gotten this far this fast without your help!
