Luna280

Mike, I don't know if you got your '77 280 started yet. If you're still having troubles here's a couple more ideas... Behind the passenger seat, under the carpeting there is a pair of wires with bullet style connectors on them. These wires feed power to the fuel pump. They might be hidden under a insulating type tape and then run through the floorpan via a rubber grommet. The one's on my '77 came loose somehow and were causing the same problem you're experiencing. Another thing to check is for spark. Don't just check spark coming from the coil wire, check for spark at each wire going to the spark plug. If you have a defective distributor cap, more often you will find that not all spark plugs are getting electricity. The spark should be consistent and strong enough to jump a 1/8'' gap. Just a few ideas (from personal experience).

I have the same problem on my 77 and here's what I came across. Take off the steering column covers and check the headlight switch, specifically check the solder points on the top of the switch where the harness is soldered on. High resistance in my circuit caused the solder to melt just enough that it flowed and made contact with the adjacent solder point/wire therefore creating a short. The switch is set up so that the park/dash lights are operated seperately from the headlights. The high resistance is still a mystery to me and I am still working on it. Removing the fuse box is next for me.