ok. so im a new tech with little diagnostic experience. this is on my 87 ranger 2.9l regular cab long box.
order of events:
parked friday night. everything ok
saturday went to drive and no fuel pump. crawled under and tapped on with hammer. nothing. after 2 more starts attempts the starter wouldnt work eather. lost all dash lights and all power.
starter still good. i jumped the 2 posts on the solonoid and the starter kicked over.
sunday did some diagnostics. tested power in system. got 12.5 volts at battery. tested grounds all good on battery. tested continuity of solonoid found open in all posts. (from my understanding i should have a continuity from the positive cable input to the signal wire) also under inspection found one of the fuseale links to be caroded so bad it was severd.
tuesday had my dad a more experianced tec then myself take a look. he reccomended solonoid and that i should look for fuseable links.
wensday replaced solonoid and alled round for fuseabke links. couldnt find new...
thursday went to salvage yard to get fuseable links.picked up 3.
today, friday: replaced fuse link installed solonoid and same problem. i have no dash lights no blower no headlights no fuel pump no start.

what i need from a person who had this same problem or a tech who diagnosed a simmiler problem to point me in the right direction from here.

there's 1 power wire that feeds all functions in the cab, it hooks off the starter solenoid, runs around the front of the truck and into the dash plugs on the driver's side. get the wiring diagrams and follow your way back until you find where power isn't. nothing will work if cab power is not there (or if cab is not getting good ground), fuse box dead? might need the specific diagrams (EVTM)