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I have an 80 2wd Mikado and can't get it to start. It used to start first try every time and has gotten progressively worse. Had it for 2 years and got it tuned to run really smoothly but it fouls the plugs pretty quickly. The problem began by me needing to let go of the key when it's cranking to get it to start. Then I had to crank it forever and pump the gas and it would finally catch when I let go of the key. Would take about 10 tries. Been push starting it mostly since that began. Push starts on first try and runs good. Once it's warm, it will start up pretty easily and runs great, but if it gets cold again, I'm back to where I began. Now it won't start at all.
Battery 2 years old, has full charge. Alternator 2 years old. New air filter. Fuel pump and filter new as of 9 months ago. Cap, rotor, plugs, wires recently replaced. Someone tried to steal the truck by hot wiring it, so ignition switch was gone and I replaced it. Fuses new. Checked grounds and wiring to and from ignition coil. Cleaned contacts at grounds. Checked battery connections and cleaned. Read some stuff on here, so replaced resistor bypass relay, ignition coil, and resistor ballast. Still nothing. Just cranks and cranks but doesn't fire. It's getting plenty of gas and seems like the spark may be too weak to get it to run.
Noticed negative battery cable had some fraying where it connects to the ground clamp under the battery tray, but seems ok. Cable continues to engine where it's bolted on and covered in nasty oil residue. Possible issue there?
Borrowed a compression gauge and can bring my multimeter home from work. It's a hard starter cold anyway, and it's 25 degrees out, so that could pose a problem. Maybe a crankcase heater? Any advice on where to start?

Sounds like a weak spark problem. Can I assume you have replaced the points and condensor recently and they are properly adjusted? Next, temporarily connect a jumper wire from the battery positive to the coil + terminal. If it starts normaly now you still have a problem with the bypass relay or it's wiring or circuitry.
Once the engine starts remove the jumper or the points will burn rapidly.

Haven't messed with the points or condenser yet. Tried the jumper and it started right up, but melted the crap out of some of the wiring insulation and was smoking like crazy. Going to replace all the wires to the bypass relay and anything else damaged and see what happens. People really need to invest in the plastic flex for wire protection... this is a lot of electrical tape to remove! Thanks a lot!

So I repaired the melted wires and in the process discovered that I had 2 wires swapped on my resistor bypass relay. I put in a generic relay because it's impossible to find the oem. So I had to chop the plug off and use spade connectors. There was no way to tell which post was which on the old part, so I hooked it up using the wiring diagram for series 10 on this site. Someone must've messed with my wiring (not surprising) and made it so the colors were reversed. Anyway, it starts first try now, and I cleaned up the mess of electrical tape with some corrugated flex. Good as new! Thanks a lot for your diagnostic help!

Your welcome. Sometimes we luck out and get it right. Thanks for posting the fix which helps us all on here who may run into this again somewhere.