81 cj5 ignition

81 cj5 ignition
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Location
Colorado Springs
Vehicle(s)
1981 CJ5 GM 250 paired with the ungodly tough Borg Warner SR4 and Dana 300 t-case. AMC 20 rear (and maybe front?) with 4.11s.
It seems like ignitions are going out left and right across all of the forums I've looked at. I've got an 81 with a gm 250. It ran fine the other night to the liquor store and I started up and pulled across the lot to the grocery store to grab some sprite. I turned the ignition all the way back to leave the stereo on for my buddy and 5 minutes later it wouldn't start. Here's everything I did with no luck:

It made a short slow grinding sound and drew power but there was no turning of the engine.
1. Hit the solenoid with a hammer and the slow grinding changed to a single click the first time I tried to crank it, then no noise at all after that.
2. Jumped the solenoid with a screwdriver. Turned the engine but I didn't hold it long enough because I don't particularly like electricity. Try number two, very small sparks, but other wise the started didn't turn at all.
3. I dropped the clutch in second as my buddy towed me to my house. All to be heard was the compression. No back fire or anything.

I would think its safe to say the distributer isn't getting power though I have yet to actually check. When I turn the key, all my gauges drop as usual but nothing other than maybe a click happens if its been a few hours since I messed with it. The battery is fine. The starter isn't but a month and half maybe two months old. I haven't noticed any bad wires under the hood. Where do I go from here to figure it out?
 

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