LOL...you are right...for those of us that starting off building crystal set radios 60 years ago, using a meter and checking circuits was just part of growing up. It's frustrating to try to help someone and not being able to show them how to do it.

This one is crazy because it does not work when everything is bypassed, but, we know the components work because it does start and run. Going to an extreme and powering it from a separate battery may seem uncalled for, but, it seems we have to prove it will work when it gets the right voltage.

The anomaly in this set up is the ignition box mounted inside the car...we may ultimately discover that the quality of ground is turning it off when the current draw increases.