lights and horn work, solenoid good, main fuse at block good. Not an electrician. There was no warning of any kind. Color me stumped.
Not as stumped as us with our "Mind Reading" skills guessing what car this is on! Normally it is the main power feed wire from the starter to the ignition switch. Check to see if there isn't any fusible link in this feed wire. Or also check the female spade terminals in the plug itself at the ignition switch. Horns are usually connected to the regulator etc on old cars and the horn*****on grounds the relay.[separate circuit]
The ignition switch is hot right from the battery (preferably after a kill switch/fusible link or breaker IMO), the switch sends the power to either accessory, ignition or starter. First things first, test light (totally traditional) on the power feed on the back of the switch. If there is no power going to the switch, you have to trace the wire back to the battery to see if there any breaks/fuses/breakers/links that may be out (ohm meter is your friend). If there is power there, the switch may be bad.
Lights and horn work, so power is getting to the circuit breaker. The feed for the ignition switch is tied to that. If no power to ign. sw., look at the feed wire and the connection on the circuit breaker.
Got fuse panel apart trying to trace connections, can not find fuse for ignition. See wires in and out of fuse block for ignition but do not see how they connect to each other.
diagrams might help. Vanpelt has them on his web site Flathead_Electrical_wiring1940std.jpg (900×648) (vanpeltsales.com)
"Totally traditional" as in using the flip switch on the column? Not sure about yours but I can see the wires on my 39 and my pal's 40 Zephyr. Jump it across or just test light the hot side. If it's not still on the flip switch and now on a twist key I think we'd have to see whatcha got to help more. Also, new issue or just finishing up?
So a 1940 wouldn’t have a fuse panel, I****ume an aftermarket harness? If so do you know where it was from. That might help with the troubleshooting. I (never had a ‘40, but my ‘42 PU had a thing with a few circuit breakers and maybe 1? Fuse, I don’t recall as it wasn’t used when i rewired it. But didn’t have a fuse panel.
There lies the BIG ISSUE. you have 2/3 of the guys thinking you have a stock 40 Ford Wiring diagram and the other 1/3 of us wonder why the hell you didn't post about exactly what wiring kit as in brand and part number you have so maybe we can hunt down a wiring diagram and figure out where the issue might be. Step one, Get your test light out as Billy said and check for power to the switch. Before checking at the back of the switch test the test light to make sure you have it hooked to a good ground and it is working while you are under the dash. Nothing wastes time like not having a test light hooked to a real ground. Power to switch = check switch. Make sure you have that wire on the Batt post of the switch and not another one. No power, trace down the wire and check at the connection at the other end. No power there, figure out how the power gets there and make sure you have connected that wire to a hot all the time pin and not a pin that is fed by the ignition switch. Keep on tracking back until you figure it out It might be prudent to get the instruction sheet out plus the wiring diagram and study.
Does your starter solenoid have two small wires or one? If only one The starter*****on provides a ground and the solenoid gets power from the large batt terminal, internally
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