i have a 1977 pontiac firebird i started it up smoke came from the dash i now have all electrical and the motor wont start  

Sounds like the ignition switch shorted out.Or someone wrapped tin foil around a fuse and it cooked your wireing.Either way something(wireing) under the dash shorted out.Crawl under the dash and look for melted/cooked wireing.It shouldnt be too hard to spot.Disconnect the battery before you do anything else.Did I say wireing too much??Good luck my freind,let us know how you make out.  

i just got the bird for 200$ a coupla months ago wireing is like spaghetti is there a way to bypass the ignition with a toggle switch  

Not with out adding Meatballs.  

Sounds like all the wiring needs to be sorted out, patching one problem will only make another apparent. Find what smoked first then decide what to do from there.  

If the wiring's as bad as you describe it, I'd say your best course of ation is to replace the whole wiring harness. Contact one of the restoration companies and see what a new harness will run you. It'll probably take you more time than just fixing one thing that's wrong with the current harness, but in the long run it'll be easier, and safer.  

I agree with replacing the whole wiring harness. If you a had a real bad electrical fire (smoked) as you said, even if you only had a few of the wires burned, any other wire adjacent to or in contact with those wires that smoked in the harness are damaged if not burned just as bad. If not replaced may cause further fire either soon or sometime in the future after you've spent a lot of moola to get it running and looking good as you like. Safety is the key.