no crank, no lights, no anything.. the door buzzer works.

[xboxrox]

Awrite my interstate battery even tho one step up from original size rating (mine 600 cranking amps?) and it's a type for hot climates (Hawaii) all should be good with it... I think Firestone's testing meter reading showed 550 amps... My gut is beginning to guess the ignition switch or the use thereof could very well be the (infrequent) poor starting issue... It's an old switch and my wrist & reflexes are 70 years old too... I'm hoping that a firm, good, solid, quick, full twist of the key will prevent the dead battery syndrome... It might be me not perfectly turning the key in the best way possible for the old switch to make good contact..? Plausible..? We shall see... I'm left handed, so turning the key requires using the less coordinated right hand; perhaps some ginseng will fix things..? LOL

[geezer101]

My gut is beginning to guess the ignition switch or the use thereof could very well be the (infrequent) poor starting issue... It's an old switch and my wrist & reflexes are 70 years old too...

I've come across a couple of bad ignition switches. They are mechanical and do wear out - the copper contacts and inner bezel get some fairly deep trenches in them. I would say by the time a daily driver vehicle reaches the 35 year + mark, it's EOL. You can carefully take them apart and freshen them up a little (beware of the ball bearing and springs in them - they have a tendency to go flying while prying the casings apart), polish up the contacts and add fresh grease - maybe stretch the springs a touch... but it won'y be long before it does annoying things like trip past the starter contact or break contact to the on and ignition circuits. Mitsubishi used those switch assemblies in a lot of cars (there a 2 different diameter assemblies and I'd put money on them being used in other manufacturers cars as well) so there's a chance they are still around.