Well, I have an aftermarket ignition box... I hope it's not toast!

Just went out to the garage to investigate, and found out why she wasn't cranking. One of the cables to the positive on the battery had fallen out of the connector. It is the cable that goes to the dash and ignition. Reconnected it, and got a little more life.

The battery is apparently very dead right now, so I threw it back on the charger.

I did try hooking up jumper cables to my other car, and I could get Stinky to crank once or twice, but that's it.

I DO get the red light under the temperature gauge. IIRC, that's supposed to indicate there is a problem with the alternator? Like it's not connected, or something might be open in the circuit?

I'll let it charge and see what happens. If she won't start up, and keeps getting the red light, I'll remove the alternator and check it out.

I HOPE she just died when that one cable came out, killing the ignition before there was any damage. We'll see.

Matt, why do you think your alternator is cooked?

Your car will run with a bad alternator. It will not run with a bad ignition system. What are you running for spark?

GOOD NEWS:

After the battery charged for a few hours, Stinky started up! Ran like she has been. I will need to back her out of the garage (exhaust stinks it up and the way the stairs are in my apartment, the fumes go up into my kitchen... not too good...) and check the voltage at the battery to see if it is being charged. No indications that it's not, though.

I'm glad she's not dead, and my ignition box isn't fried!

It's a copy of the MSD 6AL, a ProComp PC6AL. Works almost identically to the MSD unit, but costs about $100 less.

Apparently there was no damage, no event. Stinky just shut off when the battery was disconnected.

I was able to get her started, and checked the voltage at the battery was just above 14v, and didn't go much higher when the engine was revved.

So I think I averted disaster....now to secure that dang battery!!

Does anyone know if the battery tiedown that PP sells has the threaded rod? The picture only shows the bracket that holds the battery.