I recently picked up a '72 teener w/1.7 & carbs that had sat for 2 years in a garage. I was told someone had run the engine very briefly in the last few months but when I got to it the engine turned over very slowly despite a fairly new battery and the wheels were not turning very freely enough to try and get it going so I trailered it home to do diagnostics etc. OK - so far I put in a new battery, changed plugs and wires and freed up a float in one of the carbs that was letting fuel come out the top vent. It's still on my trailer - I was hoping to get it running before pulling the wheels to clean up the brakes but it's still turning over VERY slowly despite a fresh (and charged up) battery. I checked all connections at battery and starter and they look fine. No way is it going to start with the engine not turning over faster. This car has AC and there's a belt hooked up to the compressor - do you think there's some drag there that's causing the problem? Also, I figured the next step would be to pull the starter and have it checked by the local Auto-electric gurus. BTW, that top nut is really hard to get off - I'll try my 1/2" drive and see if that works
In the meantime if anyone has a theory of why it;s turning over so slowly I'd love to hear it. Oh one more thing - when the plugs were out I squirted a little oil in the cylinders and turned it over and it spun a little faster but not like it should have. A last resort would be to push or pull the car to start it but I'd rather do this without force through the gearbox. Thanks for any input. I'll be back later to see if anyone replies. Going to try and get that top nut off 
Cheers,
Andy
Thanks for the tips, I'll head back to the project now and see what happens. Will post results 
......hit the nail right on the head! The ground strap to the tranny was completely destroyed at the end that fastens to the tranny and the way it was positioned I couldn't see it wasn't connected to anything. Not having another ground strap handy and wanting to confirm this to be my prob. I used jumper cables to complete the ground and wow what a difference. After some turns she fired! It's not running for more than a few seconds at this point but at least now I can turn my attention to the fuel issues - implementing fresh gasoline so she'll run longer. But SHE'S ALIVE (I feel like Dr. Frankenstein a little) 
......why didn't I check that first!!!! 
In any event, since Z didn't ask for pics of my current girlfriend 
but who knows what the next post may hold in store 