After all of that diagnosing and churning it was time to lay fire into the engine and hear the roar! Unfortunately I had no spark from the coil according to ye old timing light. According to the factory service manual, it’s either the coil has gone bust or the distributor isn’t telling it to. There’s some confusion as to whether or not this thing is points, so some investigation will be necessary. In the mean time, I have a new coil on order.