Sanpedro, did you find if the IGN fuse was one of the missing fuses? I'd have to guess it would require a 15-25 Amp rating if not marked on the fuseholder.

Mark, heres the way I remember it. If the condensor was mounted on the coil, it was for radio noise. Being mounted on the coil to the + side cannot work with the points, because the condensor has to interfere with the ground side of the points itself. Or, the voltage would just pass through the points to ground. (actually, because the points move, they would want to weld together). The single point distributors had the condensor inside the distributor. The ones mounted on the outside of the Distributor, was for dual points, and were almost double that of a single set of points, because it worked with 2 sets of points. And, the first thing he should do, is see if there is any juice even going to the + side of the coil
Denny, If the capacitor was mounted on the coil (+) it would be there to take care of interference (EMI/RFI) from the generator brushes or the coil as you suggest. It can be placed on the coil (-) which would be the same as if across the points on or inside the distributor. Sanpedro didn't mention where it was located so I made the assumption it would be between the coil (-) and ground.

The capacitor (or condensor, depending on our age) serves several purposes. One is to quench the arc that forms across the point(s) when they open. This increases point life by reducing pitting. The second function is to limit the rate of rise (dv/dt) in the coil secondary voltage and develop what is refered to as a ringwave. This particular waveshape is better at generating an ignition spark. The capacitor value is tuned against the inductance of the coil just like the tuning circuits in older radio's.

As has been suggested earlier, the best bet is to go down to your local Autozone or Kragen and replace the points, cap, rotor, condensor, plugs and plug wires. Blow the better part of $50.00 and eliminate as many future problems as possible. Things that have to handle 20,000V need to be kept clean and dry.

The first item though is to get +12V onto the coil (+) terminal when cranking, and a missing fuse sounds like the best place to start.

Regards, Mark