I was thinking that I should have checked all the wires out before putting the gas tank back into the car.  That could be the culprit.    It isn't the grill as that was one of the last things I was going to put back in.  I'll let everyone know what it ends up being.  Thanks.

While I suspect some common error may be the cause of your problems, like a wire caught by a fuel tank re install or a screw holding the grille on the front having gone into the wire harness under the slam panel, I do think it sounds like a problem that is not going to be solved over the Internet. Find your local British Sports Car community and from there you should be able to tap into people sufficiently experienced to sort this out.

An unguided education in these matters can quickly result in destruction of switches or wiring harnesses.

That may be part of the problem.  The in-line headlight fuse was down behind the carb.  The main connection plug from the front to rear harness also seemed to be loose and won't clip together.  It also has a tendency to hit the firewall and that could cause my problem.  I've got some more checking to do.  

My taillight fuse which controlled the dash lights also kept blowing. I found my front harness had dropped down behind the carb and was rubbing on the speedometer hole that has a pressed sharp edge and it caused it to short out.

I found two in-line fuses that appeared may be connected to the headlights.  I pulled the fuses and they looked good.  I checked the four connections, then powered back up and the headlights worked.  So did the brights.  Still no flash to pass, but if they are part of the horn circuit that makes sense as the horn doesn't work either.  However, I had no rear tail lights.  I looked over the connections and the main connector that plugs the rear harness into the front was loose.  Pushing it on tighter didn't result in tail lights, but it did result in headlight fuse glowing, then smoking.  So it would appear there is a short somewhere in the rear harness?  Would that account for the smoke and blown fuse?  

Actually, it is an easy, fun job. I mentioned that the fuse you are troubled with is for the running lamps. I did not say it was for the headlamps. The headlamps are not fused. When you pull the stalk to flash the high beams, they are momentarily powered via the horn power.

I pulled the fuse box and the backside was nice and clean.  No rust, dirt, or what would look like bad connections.  The firewall is all nice clean new paint so it shouldn't be an issue.  I've had the headlight switch out and it didn't look melted or anything.  It looked fine.  I guess I need to start tracing wires to see if something has gone haywire along the way.  Not the most fun job.

Check the back of the headlamp switch they melt due to too much current sometimes, later cars have relays to help with this issue. Also check the connection half way down the steering column where the harnesses plug in. Next step would be to see if you have power into and out of the headlamp flash.

Well if that fuse works the headlights and tail lights, that explains why those don't work.  What is weird is that the flash to pass for the headlights was working.  It's now quit too, maybe I messed something up while playing around.  I can check for corrosion on the back and see if that is the cause.  I've tested the fuse with the headligths turned on so it can't be that I tested it at the wrong time.

+1 to what Malsal wrote. The back of the fusebox is not sealed, the components are riveted brass and corrosion eventually stops conductivity, first intermittently and then moreso. A new 4-fuse box is not expensive.

The bottom fuse in the four fuse box is the running lamps, and the fuse protects that circuit after the headlamps switch. Since that is the case, you do not have power to that fuse unless the headlamps are turned on.

Check the back of the fuse box they tend to corrode and create problems.

Dan: I have been going through this for the last week...first a pea light and blew out everything in the mini. I now have everything back except one door pocket.  I would recomment you get a wiring diagram out of one of your books and follow it through.  My problem was in the voltage regulator which I removed to put in an alternator...your problem may vary.    

I'll admit to hating to mess with electircal stuff.  But I've run into a problem with the fuse box in my rebuild.  I've got power to the top 3 fuses (it's a 4 fuse type box), but no power to the bottom one.  I've checked the fuse and even swapped it with on of the other ones.  Anybody have any ideas on why there'd be no power to the bottom fuse?
Thanks,
Dan