I have a 78 tbird. Its in pretty good shape but all the wires in the dash are ripped apart. How can I go about starting it without going through the mess of wires one by one.

You'll have to trace 'em. Start by tracing the wires from the starter soleniod, steering column, ignition box and brain box (sometimes located over and around the glove box - unless hot-wired aroundthe connector).