Bruce, you caught my unclear communication - I should've typed the 2 ground connections are good, 1 to the body at the fender and 1 to the engine block. I ran the car for years without the VC to firewall ground strap so I know that one isn't normally important. The car is acting as if the block is electrically charged - running a jumper from the block ground bolt (where the -ve battery cable attaches) to a body bolt turns on the power in the car, but it still doesn't get enough current to the starter to crank (at least it turns over once).

Thanks for the responses