Engine won't fire up again....advice? SOLVED!

Does it seem to try to start when turning over, like attempting to fire up and failing, or does it just turn over and that it? How did you check for spark? You mentioned that you were getting spark, so that's why I ask. You getting spark at the coil, at the plug? Technically if your getting spark at the plug and getting fuel, there should be combustion lol. If you can clarify a bit for me I believe I can help you find the culprit

Tested voltage at the red MSD wire.

Battery was at 11.97 volts

Voltage at red wire with key on was 10.7 volts. While cranking it was 9 volts.

Don.. how's the bulkhead connector, especially the power source going into the car? How's the backside of the dash look like, i.e the wires going to the amp gauge and/or steering column? Everything out in the engine compartment may check out fine.........

Tested again at full charge

Battery was 12.98 volts

MSD red wire with key ON was 11.5 volts

While cranking it was 10.3 volts

So battery and voltage to MSD box is not the issue.

I re-tested the MSD ignition by unhooking the coil wire from distributor cap and placing 1/2" from ground. Then unhooked magnetic pickup leads to distributor. With key in ON position I jumped the MSD magnetic pickup lead wires (green & violet) and got a spark from coil wire to ground. So that test passed.

I then tested MSD ignition by unhooking the coil wire from distributor cap and placing 1/2" from ground. Then looked for same spark while engine was being cranked....NO SPARK.

My next test will be to look for spark while cranking and while jumping the magnetic pick up leads.

Goin on a hunch here... try this, place your key in the run position, and then go to your start relay and manually bump your battert power with the starter solenoid to turn it over and see if it fires up. It almost seems as though your not getting power to the ignition when turning the key into the start position. I know you said you were getting 10.5 volts while cranking, but its just a hunch...

I tested the MSD ignition by unhooking the coil wire from distributor cap and placing 1/2" from ground. Then unhooked magnetic pickup leads to distributor. With engine cranking I jumped the MSD magnetic pickup lead wires (green & violet) and got a spark from coil wire to ground. So that test passed.

It would seem to me that when the distributor is isolated from the equation I get spark and when the distributor is part of the equation I do not get spark. So I think we are getting close.

Then it has to be the magnetic pickup in the dizzy, either out of adjustment or the the pickup itself somehow got toasted when you had yer short....

As I mentioned previously check the gap clearance..
Yes.. The pickup could be bad,
But the majority of instances it is the gap adjustment is too wide..
The pickup completes the firing system to the MSD box which fires the coil..

It is EZ takes about 5 minutes..

Just my $0.02..

If you have a spare dist in your stash (from any eng) plug it in and spin it by hand (in it's direction of rotation) w key on as a helper holds the coil wire 1/4" from ground and see if it sparks. take off the yellow "ign" wire from the starter relay on the fender to disable the starter and have a 3rd helper hold the key to "start" as you spin it again & see if you get a spark in start mode. On the reluctor gap, teeth can vary slightly in length so check each of the 8 reluctor teeth, their distance to the magnet and find the one one that sticks out the most (least gap) then w a Mityvac or similar vac pump pull the vac adv thru it's travel and find the point where the gap is the smallest and set the gap to .006"/lock the screw/recheck the gap (for .006") & that part (the gap) is done assuming the ohms part isn't way out of whack but k.i.s.s. Holler when you solve it (in this thread )

No spare distributor. I pulled my distributor out last night. I'll drop it off at shop tomorrow morning to replace the magnetic pickup.

Well thanks for the advice and tips which were helpful in determining the final root cause. It was the magnetic pickup in the distributor. Had the mag PU replaced and just installed the distributor. She fires right up. Glad to hear her alive again.

Glad you got it goin'. Thanks for letting us know the results, quite often we don't.