Thanks to everyone for your replies. It was indeed a bad ground.

I replaced the negative battery cable with a 2Awg cable and got a good ground to the frame this morning before church. It has been so danged hot here in Dallas that I had to get on it at like 6:30 to beat the heat. Anyway once I got everything buttoned up, it fired as soon as I turned the key.

Also bought a couple of ground straps that I will be using to ground the engine block and body to the frame once I get back from a business trip. Then I will be replacing the positive battery cable. I just need to buy the cable and ends to run it from the trunk to the starter. Will also add a battery box at the same time since the battery is currently just held in by a not so sturdy homemade strap.

Once that is done I will add a thermostat control to the fans to keep them from running constantly.