No crank, no click, out of ideas

[CallMeTiny]

I'm currently working on a friend's truck, it's a 1985 c1500, manual swapped and motor was swapped by previous owners to a 383 stroker. They redid a bunch of the wiring from the look of it. Brand new battery and one day he jumps in, turns the key and nothing, got dome lights and headlights but nothing else. Nothing from the dash, fuel pump or starter. We replaced the ignition switch thinking that was the issue, still got nothing, looked into replacing the neutral safety switch but noticed it doesn't have any ignition wires running to it, only the green and blue wires. Checked all the fuses and any wires I could think of. Not sure where to go from here

 

[dsteelejr]

Did you check the fusible links? You said the POs redid a bunch of wiring, did they use a replacement wiring harness like something from Painless or just do it from scratch?

 

[CallMeTiny]

Did you check the fusible links? You said the POs redid a bunch of wiring, did they use a replacement wiring harness like something from Painless or just do it from scratch?

The wiring harness looks original, but they tied into it, I also seen a few wires that were broken / cut and taped off, so I'm guessing that's from the motor and transmission swap. I also couldn't locate the fuseible links, I seen a bunch of people saying to check the ones on the firewall but I couldn't find them

 

[dsteelejr]

The wiring harness looks original, but they tied into it, I also seen a few wires that were broken / cut and taped off, so I'm guessing that's from the motor and transmission swap. I also couldn't locate the fuseible links, I seen a bunch of people saying to check the ones on the firewall but I couldn't find them

You need to get a wiring diagram from the reference section of this forum. It’s on the home page. It will tell you where the fusible links are. I took a snapshot of parts of it and posted below, but you really should have the whole diagram if you’re chasing down wires. The fusible links are on the primary power wires coming off the starter post and on the junction block on the firewall. If battery powered things like dome light and headlights work, but ignition switch things don’t I would be more inclined to think the problem is on the firewall wiring. You can look for signs of burned wires, but get a circuit tester if you don’t already have one and check to see if there is power on those wires feeding the ignition switch.

 

[GTX63]

The wiring harness looks original, but they tied into it, I also seen a few wires that were broken / cut and taped off, so I'm guessing that's from the motor and transmission swap. I also couldn't locate the fuseible links, I seen a bunch of people saying to check the ones on the firewall but I couldn't find them

After 40 years the fusible link is probably gone covered in lint under someone's garage freezer. Troubleshooting issues like this I start at the battery and work my way from there to the starter, then the fusible link/junction block on the firewall, and towards the fuse box, ignition switch. I rarely need to go farther than the junction block. When trucks pass thru 12 owners, 4 motors and two underhood fires, wiring gets janky.
To just get it to crank, you can mount a ford (forgive me father) solenoid on the firewall, run a positive cable to one terminal, another to the starter lug, and run 12v to another with the solenoid wire. This way, you can always jump the motor without climbing underneath and can bypass the current setup, confirming everything underhood is new and functional.