Car Won't Start After Removing Interior and Gauges

I have almost completed stripping the interior of my car as I get ready to take it to the body shop. All of the gauge cluster and heater/AC controls have been removed. I did not remove the ignition switch, so that I could start and move the car around. However, when we first tried to crank it up we were not able to get it to start. We were able to rub the red and black wires that attach to the ammeter together and get it to start intermittently using the ignition. Is there something grounded in the dash or something that I may be overlooking that would prevent the car from starting? I have checked the harness under the dash and nothing seems out of place.