Engine will not start

Back to the basics............

Fuel.............Clean, and fresh. Do you have it? Pump the throttle, should get a "pump shot" down the carb throat. Has the car been parked? Could the fuel be stale? Prime it down the carb throat?

Compression..........What shape is the engine in? You have compression? have you CHECKED?

Spark...........and at the right TIME........Have you checked for spark? Pull the coil wire, "rig" a test gap, even a grounded probe held near the top of the coil, and have a helper crank the engine USING THE KEY. This is important because using the key causes higher battery voltage at the ignition system (the coil bypass circuit)

This should result in a nice fat blue spark at least 3/8" or longer

Is the cap and rotor clean and dry? No carbon tracks? Check the coil wire with an ohmeter? Check the spark plug wires? Check the plugs? Are they oil or fuel fouled?

Ignition system

CHECK and BE SURE that the ignition box is GROUNDED. Don't just look at it, CHECK IT. Remove it, scrape clean, and re--mount using star lock washers

Remove the ignition connectors, at the box, the distributor, the ballast. Inspect visually for corrosion, and work in / out several times to scrub clean and to "feel" for tightness. This is especially important of the dist connector.

Inspect the dist internally. Any rust / corrosion / debri around the pickup / reluctor? Get a brass feeler gauge (O'Reallys) and set the gap at .008", that' inches, not metric

Hook your meter to the dist. connector on low AC volts and crank the engine. The dist should produce about 1Volt AC

With the key "in run" use a jumper wire to ground first one, then the other of the dist wires leading to the ignition (not the dist.) (I forget which one, try 'em both) One or the other should produce one spark from the coil each time you ground / unground the wire