96' CE, Wont start, need HELP!

[billet 00]

this is for my fathers CE. he had a bad alternator kill his old battery. we got a new alternator and he got a Optima red top battery. everything was fine, charging 14 volts. today he turned key and dash lit up like normal but when he went to crank the engine he heard a "pop". we figured it was a fuse. now, i dont know much about vettes but the only fuses i can find are the 2 small blocks under the hood and the large block on the passenger side dash. we checked all of those fuses ( visually and electronically ) they were fine. when you turn the key to the "on" position you get nothing, no power anywhere, same when you are cranking it...nothing lights up as if there were no battery. we checked the terminals from the battery, they have 12 volts. there is a "ticking" noise comming from under the dash near the fuse block that we dont know what it is. it ticks with no key in the car. we are stumped. if you need any more information please let me know. any help would be great !!

 

[Hot-LT4]

I have heard that ticking sound when the battery is nearly drained. It has happened a couple of times to me in the winter when I am detailing and maintaining and use up the battery by having doors open etc. The ticking seems to happen after failing an attempted start when the battery is too low. For me, charging the battery has corrected the problem each time. To my knowledge it's nothing more than that. Maybe someone else will have an idea, but all I can say is recheck battery charge, connections, and check for power drains when car is not running.
Steve