I’m having trouble locating the fault...

    Make sure the output wire terminal from the points to the coil isnt shorting against the distributor housing. I fought with mine dying out when pulling a skier-just like shutting the key off every so often. The skier wasnt happy and neither was I. Anyway, thats all it was. Ran fine all year after I bent the terminal a bit.
                               Jeff...

Yes, 64 that's the idea. The coil actually fires when you open the circuit though. Grounding the neg (-) side charges the coil and then opening the circuit (removing the jumper wire) makes the magnetic field collapse and the coil fires. This is the same thing that is accomplished by the points or electronic module. This trick will work with most types of ignition systems.

David F wrote: Happened to me last year. A little sand paper on the points and she fired right up.

Ya... I tried the points cleaning trick.
I forgot to test the capacitor. I found an old one in a box of stuff. I tested it and it's good. I'm gonna go put it in later this week. Maybe that'll magically be it and I can put all the other stuff back.

If that's all it turns out to be I'll be so frustrated! Happy, but frustrated! hehe.

Happened to me last year. A little sand paper on the points and she fired right up.

Do you have points or electronic ignition? Need to know that first.

But here's what you can do in the mean time. If you have 12 volts on the + side of the coil in respect to gnd (engine block) with the key on you are good there. Take a jumper wire and attach it to the - (neg.) side of the coil. Remove the coil wire from the center of the dist. cap and place the firing end about 1/4" from gnd. Turn the key on and strike the jumper to gnd. The coil should fire. If it does, something is wrong with your points or ignition module. Be sure to observe all safety precautions and make sure the key is off prior to hooking or unhooking any wires or cable from the ignition system. Hope this helps!