HELP! New '66; Starts Intermittently - Solenoid?

[pekoe1111]

Drove it home 4 hours the other day - no problem.

Drove to the hardware store 5 minutes away and when I came out, it wouldn't start (click when key turned, then no power to anything). Cleaned off POS terminal which was crusty with white stuff and it started fine.

Today, turned the key and click, then no power to anything. Cleaned terminal and replaced lead and started fine. What would cause intermittent starting problems and solved by removing lead from POS terminal? It is either the lead/terminal or I'm perhaps wiggling a wire somewhere else?

Another issue - when starting cold, the choke works fine, but the car has no power when going up a big hill about a 1/4 mile from my home.

Thanks

BB

PS it is a '66 convertible with 289 2V, auto.

 

[Mustang Jim]

I once had a problem just like that on an '86 T-Bird. Drove me nuts for about 2 months. It turned out that one of the battery cables went bad. There was a kink that caused enough resistance in the cable which would appear as though the battery was practically dead.

If you have corrosion at the terminal ends, it might be time for a new battery. If not, check you cable connections and battery voltage.