Help! No fire!

Id make sure you have the wires on the terminals to the coil correct....Theres a difference between + & - and the way they spark..

What you describe about the cap says its possible the + is on the Negative terminal and Negative on the + terminal...

Take a test light or a multimeter and make sure the powerside of the coil has no power to the + terminal when the key is turned off..........

Sometimes the column switches go bad sitting that long....

Id replace the distributor cap w/ rotor plus replace or install an ignition suppression capacitor and have the coil tested at AutoZone.....

Another thing Id do is make sure your distributor body is grounded good to the engine block..

Everybody thinks those radio interference suppression capacitors are just for the radio noise....If it was just for radio noise it would be attached to the radio or the alternator instead its attached to the coil and FYI capacitors aid in supplying power to a circuit that sees heavy or repetitive loads like an ignition coil..

Interference suppression capacitors, also known as radio interference suppression capacitors, reduce to a permissible level the high-frequency interference signals generated during operation of electrical or electronic devices. They serve as device protection by damping short line-side overvoltages too..

I have an ISC from a commercial diesel truck on my 410w w/MSD plus I have a Mallory 120,000mfd 16vdc w/20v max surge capacitor hooked up to my MSD 6a Box too.........You can really feel the extra voltage on hand it gives to the ignition box when the MSD starts upping its power output after 3000 rpm's...

Good Luck.

I also think it's time to change the coil! After all, 20 years have passed and a lot has changed! And so I am often busy in plastic surgery here and I have little time!