Electrical/starting problems

Sounds as if the car was cut out of the wiring harness. There have been quite a few posts ( about the madelectrical bypass ) asking, "Can't I just cut these 2 wires and connect together in the engine bay ?"
Answer, "NO"
Best to refer to factory service manual wiring diagrams. Try figure out where the car gets its power. There has to be a weld splice or other point of branch distribution somewhere.
I've read that very early models had umpteen wires connected to the wiper switch as its connector was used as a distribution point. I'm not as familiar with the early builds.