well, I got this '72 521 1600, and have had some issues with the ign. sys. and after troubleshooting the carb and distributer, and having replaced the points, all good, running fine......then...

today I was driving at freeway speed (65) when all the sudden.......kaput!

the thing just quit, my ign idiot light now won't come on when I energize ( turn the key to on) and although got power and eng. cranks over, no spark, even from the coil. so I replaced the coil , no help...!?!?!?

what now???
yes it gets gas, it is definitely electrical.

why would the dash idicator lights fail now??

 

 

If the ignition light won't light up you probably blew the ignition fuse, or a wire broke.  You probably don't have power to the coil.

Other things to check- do the turn signals or reverse lights work (now)?  Does the oil pressure light come on?  Gas gauge?  These are all run off the IGN part of the key switch (though a different fuse than the ignition I believe).

answering to the latter part of your reply, no turn, backup, or others.

where is the ignition fuse, and why would it blow???
 and what is the switch behind the gas pedal that goes through the firewall, I had to bypass with a jumper.

The fuse box is on the passenger side under the hood...  and just because a fuse LOOKS good doesn't mean it is.

Lots of things make the fuses blow.  Shorted wires, too much load (like aftermarket accessories), or even just old age.  If the fuse continues to blow there's a short in the system which will need to be traced and resolved.  This isn't a quick fix- it can take hours to find a short even if you are very familiar with tracing.

Corrosion at the fuse box han make everything quit.  Happened with my '68, was happily idling in the driveway then just shut off.  Spend a good hour cleaning off all the fuse box terminals after that.

The switch was for the dual-points system.  Under certain conditions the dual points were supposed to not operate, and that is one of at least 3 switches that would shut them off.  However the truck should still run even if that switch were nonfunctional as the main points are never shut off.

thanks to all for the advice/help!:D

here's the skinny of my hickup;

it was.........the fuse terminal. (and maybe a loose balast wire)

when I hit the turn signal , the bulb must have drawn too much for the terminal to take( needed cleaning), thus causing the "short".

I have since addressed the issue and all is well.

what a GREAT lil truck!!! will post pics as soon as I figure out how.

once again, thanks Dastunaholic!