Beyond Frustrated - Wont start/stay running

Good; that meter will tell you a lot. The tests are made to be simple and tell you a lot. The coil resistance test may tell a bad coil but will not show one that is arcing internally. But you have probably eliminated that with substituting a new coil. It just remains to see if you have the correct coil(s).

A 'tit' is due to a metal transfer from one side of the points to the other. A big one can be caused by a poor/bad condensor. It ought to be filed off with a suuuuuper fine file or emery cloth; there used to be 'points files' sold for this.

Yes, crank the engine or turn it by hand to get the points at maximum opening to check the gap. If you get close and stop where the points are in the process of opening, you can turn the rotor by hand to get them to open to the peak. This check really should just compliment the dwell measurements; adjusting points gap is how you adjust dwell. But it is an easy and reliable back-up check to your dwell meter; if the right gap and right dwell are not occurring at the same time, then that may point to the nubs/lobes on the distributor shaft being worn down, or some issue in the points action. I raced cars on points for 10+ years and never had a dwell meter; I just set points gap and it was always good.

One other easy thing to do: Rotate the engine so the timing mark is at TDC, and look at the rotor to see that it is pointing close to one of the spark towers. It should not be more than 10-15 degrees away from one tower. This would tell you if the cap and rotor are indexed properly.

When it does start, does it run smoothly for a few seconds and then start to sputter and then die? That almost sounds like a fuel problem. Does the accelerator pump squirt fuel every time you open the throttle by hand while you look down the carb throat? And does this carb have a choke plate?

And if you can afford a new set of plugs, please do so. Even some cheap Autolites would be worth it at this point.