[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Medium-sized black wire carries switched power from the ignition switch to the (+) terminal of the coil.

Wire from points to condensor, green wire from condensor to (-) terminal of the coil.

Black w/purple stripe wire (stripe is kinda hard to see, often looks like thinner black wire) to the (-) terminal of the coil carries the points signal to the tach. (Unplug it for now, just to isolate that out of the circuit.)

Big thick black wire from coil center terminal to the distributor cap.

Unplug the thick black wire from the cap, tape it so the end is about 1/4" from a ground like the fan shroud. Turn on the ignition, verify the medium black wire gets +12V. Unplug the green wire from the coil. Touch a grounded wire to the (-) terminal and pull it away. On one of those transitions, you should get a healthy "ZAP" out of that center coil wire.

If so, then turn off the ignition and start checking the points. Do they open and close? Does the green wire get a ground and then get disconnected? (Actually check at the connector inside the distributor--the condensor may mess up the readings.)

Go from there with the troubleshooting. Keep asking questions if/when you run into stumbling blocks.

--DD