I have just put in my new 225 engine. Turned the key and she cranked over. Tried to start it but after a few tries the key would no longer turn it over. Nothing... dead! Battery is fine. I screw drivered (crossed) the starter poles with the key turned on and she runs great. Turn key off and engine stops. Question is it my ignition switch or maybe the ballast resistor????

The ballast resistor supplies power to your coil, not the starter. Check the firewall plug and the rest of the connections, also clean your battery terminals. Even if they look ok.

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I've been calling it as i see it for my entire life and that's not about to change. Take it or leave it.

Its not the battery. The firewall plug does not look really spectacular but I`m not sure what goes on there. So maybe it is not the switch? How can I test the switch?

Check the neutral safety switch on the transmission, and the starter relay on the firewall.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

It could very well be the battery CLAMPS, though. Like I said, you should run a battery brush through the terminals (clamps) and over the posts. They dont have to be all white and powdery, even if they are dull grey they might just arc out and stop conducting current from the battery to the cables. Check the cables where they bolt onto the clamps and clean them too.

Your firewall plug is just a bunch of special spade terminals held into the plug, that slide over mating tabs in the firewall. They get corroded and even break sometimes. If there is too much resistance the plug can even partially melt. There is a special wire coming out of the plug called a "fusible link" that could be fried as well. If it is, nothing on your car will work at all, even if the battery's fully charged.

Im going for a bad connection or something because you say that it's an intermittent problem, and in the safe refuge of the interior the keyswitch is relatively protected, a bad connection in the engine compartment is far more likely.

_________________
I've been calling it as i see it for my entire life and that's not about to change. Take it or leave it.