Sorry, I meant the car will turnover but not fire up. The starter will turn but the engine seems as if it has no gas. It basically dies the a second or two after it "fires UP".

 

Your starter is working properly.

Be a bit more specific when you say when the lights turn on. Say headlights or gauge lights, because they are on different circuits.

Now you need to figure out if the firing up problem is due to lack of spark of lack of fuel. If you hook up a timing light, you can see if enough spark is being generated to flash the light. Spark problems are more likely.

I suspect that something is wrong with your ignition switch since no dash lights come on when you turn the key to the II position. You should test first before replacing.

If you have a volt meter, unplug the two pin connector that goes to the distributor. Turn the key to the II position. See if the blk/yel wire has 12V. Red probe of your volt meter will touch the connector and the black probe of the volt meter should a metal bolt on the valve cover (ground). If you don't have 12V then replace the electrical portion of your ignition switch.

 

How's this for a scenario...
At the II (ON) position, the ignition switch does NOT turn on the circuit to energize the ECU or the dashboard idiot lights. It doesn't turn that on until you twist the key to III (START). So it cranks then fires up momentarily.

As soon as you release the key back to II, it switches OFF that circuit. Just as if you'd turned the key all the way back to OFF.

See if you can keep it running by not quite releasing the key all the way. Hold it somewhere between RUN & START, just let it go far enough so the starter motor quits running.

If that's a good description, and if you can keep it running by holding the key that way; then it's a bad ignition switch.