wont start on its own

A bad negative battery cable or ground. When you hook up the jumper cables, you are giving it a good ground (via jumper cable to your vehicle). Trace the battery cables all the way back to their frame/engine connections, make sure the black cable is well grounded, and doesn't have frayed or loose terminals.

KenF, Thank you for your input. I checked the ground all the way to frame. As I have been playing around with this car I have found that if I unhook the ground cable from the battery, and put it back on almost immediately It will start for approx 8-10 restarts then back to the dreaded click but yet again unhooking terminal and rehooking, It works again. Any other suggestions?

I suspect the problem is electrical and lies between the battery and the starter. Try swapping out the starter relay with a similar rated relay, that's easy enough, and see if problem goes away. If not, the problem may be with starter or a cable connection to the starter. There is a simple test you can do to test those, using a set of jumper cables. You will be connecting the red cable to the pos (red) batt terminal, then the other end of the red cable to the pos (red) starter post. CAVEAT: this will cause starter motor to spin (and crank engine!), assuming motor is good. Be sure you are in park. BE SURE not to allow red and black cables to touch, you will short your battery. IF starter does indeed engage, then problem is with cables, or a connection, or with the starter relay. IF IT does not engage, continue with a test for the negative cable. Connect the neg (black cable to the battery and an engine ground. Now repeat the steps for the red cable. IF starter engages, then the problem is with a ground.