I pulled the TFI and threw in an old one I replaced back when I redid the timing chain before, at the time I thought that was the problem, it wasn't of course.

Was super-careful to get rotor position the same as I started with.

The other TFI didn't help. While I was at it, I tried twisting the dist timing positions to the extremes. Still no hint of ignition.

 

Got it!

The coil was sparking- but evidently not ENOUGH spark.
Weird!
I mean, I saw a constant train of blue/purple snaps with grounded plug jammed into the dist's center wire. It's hard to gauge in daytime but I would have imagined that starter fluid would still light from even a weak spark. Evidently not the case.

OK, now to look at how to remote-mount the TFI in a cooler spot... bummer, you gotta have a fake TFI module to connect to those 3 pins that go into the dist!

 

cool beans!
glad you finally got her!