Next: electric and fuel issues- I think

[timspider]

ok, need help again.
By the way, I have an engine rebuild in my future so these posts will probably keep coming for another year or two.
or maybe forever, not sure yet.
So after getting tranny rebuilt and new clutch reinstalled, after about a year on blocks and jackstands, I was able to drive on the road yesterday.
Clutch is smooth and transmission click/slips right into gears nicely.
Drove my girlfriend to a baseball game and the ride there was a little bumpy with some occasional bucking. The ride back was quite a bit worse with major bucking up any hill.
Felt like fuel starvation which I've had before and got rid of with a fuel filter.
But here are 2 more items to add which are new and strange to me.
One is that towards the end, where she mercifully left me next to a gas station who graciously allowed me to park her there over night, the dash lights started flashing on and off- kind of flickering. In the same way they come on when you first start the vehicle. So something electrical is amiss. Any ideas on where to start on that for a non electrical guy are welcome. Here's the info on the electric stuff done to date: brown wire fix- headlight wiring kit, cleaned grounds where I found them.
So that's the electrical challenge.
The next part strikes me as strange. My friend who was following me during the bucking bronco ride home said when it backfired, he saw some flames out of the tail pipe.
To me, that sounds like the opposite of fuel starvation, but that's a guess from a greenie.
I went to the gas station this morning as I have to get the car out of there today and replaced the fuel filter and cranked it for a while to get it filled up.
New starter cranks like a champ- so there's that
But it did not sound even close to starting. cranked super fast but no rumbles at all- nothing

Oh, and one more thing that may help the diagnosis. That crazy annoying key-in buzzer stopped doing it's thing, for the first time ever.
That's what I got for right now.
My first goal and preference is to get her started and drive the 10 miles home, where I can get her in the barn and get back to work. I could pay $100 for another tow, but that offends my wallet.
ANY advice on what to try is appreciated.

[AriK]

You mentioned flickering dash lights. Do they come on when the ignition switch is in the " on " position?
If not, your ignition coil is not receiving.

[timspider]

It was a bit of a blur toward the end between all the pushing and sweating and traffic directing and I didn't look for that this morning when cranking the starter, so not sure.
I have one of those flame thrower coils on there now, but I also have an old one that I could swap back in.
Do you think that might be a wise course of action or would something else be causing that issue at the coil, if that is it?
That would be an easy swap out in the parking lot, so very doable.

[AriK]

If the dash lights do not illuminate you will not have spark. The fault may not lie in the coil, most likely the ignition switch. Feeling and jiggling the wires behind the switch may bring temporary relief.
On the next level you will need to check for spark and fuel supply in the engine compartment.

[DieselSpider]

Flames out the tailpipe usually means that there is a build up of raw fuel in the exhaust which with the lights flickering shows intermittant ignition. Follow the power from the fuse box to the ignition system as it could be a loose connection inbetween there however is could also be an uncapped or bare positive wire hitting metal and grounding out.

[timspider]

thanks arik and diesel. that helps. just got towed back to the barn. exhausted my car budget again in the last 3 days.
broke and in the barn until the next infusion of money comes.
until then, I'll start fiddling with the wiring and reading up on ignition switches.
now there are no dash lights at all when the key is in on position- starter still cranks like there is no tomorrow, wheel didn't seem to lock initially when key was off and out. when it got here on the flatbed, the wheel was locked. I turned the key a bit to unlock it so I could push it back into the barn (up a slight incline, fun) and the wheel unlocked fine.
There are a few strange bare wire ends in my dash- I just taped them up so there is no bare wire wandering around in there.
will check that again.
I'm starting to think the ignition switch is going. Is that unusual at 95,000 miles?
Seem to remember some threads here on the dreaded ignition switch. I guess it's time to learn about that now.