Beyond Frustrated - Wont start/stay running

If nobody's yet mentioned it, remove and inspect/test-while-flexing the single thin wire that goes from the breaker points to the coil's (-) terminal. If it's internally broken or it's grounding out, or its points-end terminal is too close to any of the nearby grounds in the distributor, it'll cause the symptoms you're dealing with.

(Points are an obsolete PITA. See HEI upgrade )