Electrical Woes

[ivantheigor]

See if anyone more electrically inclined can help me out.
After years of coveting and asking, my neighbor gifted me a 1979 (I’m pretty sure) Jeep Cherokee Chief on the condition I get it off his property. He only visits here a couple weeks of the year and he tired of spending so much time working on it. It usually gets run a couple days every year. Never had any electrical problems previously other than an always running heater fan.

Put in a battery and turn the key to accessory. Got lights on the dash. Tried turning it over. Nothing.
Now no more lights on the dash, no power to anything.
Replaced the starter solenoid as a Hail Mary, but no luck. Re-charged the battery, no luck.
I hate electrical problems

I have been looking over the electrical schematics and cant seem to find anything that would result in a systemic problem.
I am not electrically inclined, and have only a very basic cursory knowledge. Any help is much appreciated.

[MysticRob]

I'd check all the grounds.

[Heep-J4000]

Check the battery for having enough power when starting!

[wiley-moeracing]

look at the fuseable links at the battery to starter solenoid area, also did ou hook up wires correctly when installing the new parts.

[Kaiserjeeps]

Go buy a test probe light. Clean all the grounds. Remove the terminal and sand it. I have even put dielectric gel on the fresh sanded metal to stave off more corrosion. Corrosion is usually what causes issues. The test light will tell you where power is. And where it is not. Funny how you would think lack of use would make stuff last longer. Not so as cars like to run and running them makes them last longer. You will get it. Free is a darn good price that warrants your time. The payoff will be great.

[tgreese]

Clean and tighten the battery terminals. Clean the connections to the solenoid and the starter. Try a different battery.

Still not good, use a jumper cable between the battery (+) post and the starter post on the solenoid. The starter will crank if the battery is not dead. Be careful - it will crank regardless of whather it's in gear of the key is on or whatever. Don't let it accidentally start and run you over.

[ivantheigor]

I'd check all the grounds.

I think this was it.
I removed, wire brushed, and cleaned all the grounds I could find, and now it works. Wish I could have isolated it to a singular problem, but working is enough for now.
Found lots of unconnected wires, which certainly isn’t a fun endeavor to ameliorate