Now if the battery is good, and you put it on a charger set to start, what happens when you turn the key? Can you hear the click/clunk from under the hood? There is a way to jump the relay if you want to rule that out.

I had the same symptoms recently and it was the starter itself. The insulated purple wire that goes from the front/PS down to the solenoid was damaged at the end so I needed to replace that too. I'll be honest and say it's not a fun job to R/R the starters on these but it's doable. In my case, it started off where every once in a while I'd turn the key and nothing -- not even trying to turn over. Then after a week it reached a point where it would never start because the starter motor was all done. It would be tough to get a hammer up there but even if you could hit it with something, you should bit the bullet and replace it because it WILL strand you somewhere. I suppose it could be the solenoid attached to the starter that's the problem, or the purple wire, or the large terminal from the battery that worked its way loose -- but either way you need to pull it if you can determine the full ignition circuit is okay (ie: rule out the ignition switch at the column, battery, relays etc).

 

Thanks for the reply Phil. I don't hear anything at all. I believe your right and the starter may be done. I remember hearing about using the truck starter from the same year because it's more dependable and there's not that purple wire to deal with. I have been avoiding the change because of the headers that encapsulate the starter. The headers are wrapped and I have a heat shield on the starter for insurance against this sort of thing. I guess I'm changing the starter after I check the wires from my trunk to the starter.

 

Ok B-must .... when you turn the key, if the battery is good, you should hear a click ( unless you're deaf like my old man ). I wonder if there's something else going on in the path from the key to the starter. Do you have another spare relay on hand to swap out to see if that is the issue? Did you check the battery connections? They might be tight enough to work for accessories but not a good enough contact to start. Also there is a starting fuse in addition to the starter relay.
If you do need to pull the starter, I was able to get mine out without removing the header or down pipe, and just jacking up the engine slightly. But if your headers are wrapped, that is a different deal. You might be able to get away with leaving the headers in place and dropping the down pipe.

I have the service manual so I could hook you up with the starting circuit diagram if you need it.

Before you go down the rabbit hole of pulling the starter, I'd definitely rule out all the easy top-side electrical stuff first.