Thanks for this information. My apologies - because my wife and I built this car in the early 90's, I tend to assume that the reader is familiar with it as I am. Yes, the distributor uses contact points. This is the first I've read that my voltage reading is normal for a points ignition system. The last time I replaced the points and condenser was more than eight years ago, so it's highly likely the points have some corrosion, and having cleaned points many times since the 60's, that should have occurred to me. I still don't get how that factors into voltage drop, but my goal is to get the engine running well again.

By the way, I went to my local Advance Auto Parts today to obtain a new points/condenser set and the young guy behind the counter had no idea what I was talking about. Wow. He was very helpful and took the time needed to help me, but it made me feel even older than I am.