It is doable bob. I had to do that one on the side of the road on top of mountain in 40 degree weather once. That was not fun!
And yep, those rachet wrenchs with the swivel heads are life savers! They are essential to every mechanics too kit. Just don't wrench on them too hard, their rachets aren't as strong as a traditional one. I finished the clutch in my wifes AE last night. Man, I think I used every single rachet wrench I had (even the 13mm!), but I still need on in 17mm, that would have saved some time.
Slip, yep your on the right track. Test for 12v at the starter wires when you crank, but be careful! Those wires are almost connected directly to the battery and alot of current flows through them. Be sure the positive lead does not touch ground at all when your doing it. By the sounds of it you have an electrical gremlin else where. I belive there is a starter fuze somwhere, it could be a melted fuzable link too. Just keep checking back from those wires till you get to the battery, the problem has to be somewhere in between. You can check the wires comeing down from the ingition column too. Look up the wiring diagrams and find out which wire has 12v when the key is cranking, make sure theres power there then. Could even be a problem with the switch on the lock cylinder. Good luck.
Oh just had a thought. This car have any sign of ever having an alarm installed? If so most alarm installs cut the wire under the dash that gets 12vs when the starter is cranking. If the alarm brain is not in use then this circuit will never be bridged. Look at the base of the steering column and look for aftermarket wires running to the 3 or 4 or 5 big beefy oem wires running into the the steering coloumn. One of those is the one that gets cut. If it has been there will likely be a big chunky relay attached to it with a bunch of wires. Just find where they cut the wire and solder it back together and remove all of the added wires and such.
