It just won't start now

["Myron Ware" <cmw@domain.elided>]

Hi all,
  The 196 went in and was running enough to get me around the block 
to test the clutch, etc, but it seemed like it was missing.  Today, I 
put a timing light on it and the timing was brought back to about 5 
deg BTDC, but the missing still continued.  By hooking the timing 
light to each plug wire, I found that #1 fired regularly, 2 and 3 
almost never, and #4 seemed close to normal. I popped the 
distributor cap and the point gap looked to be about triple what the 
manual calls for.  I reset it with the feeler guage to .016 but the 
engine now refused to start.  I replaced the condensor with the one 
off the 152 and have the nearly new cap and rotor off the same 
engine.  The plug wires are brand new, even.  Should I have end-to-
end continuity on the coil wire (I didn't)?   I even tried the points 
off the 152's distributor.  The 196's original parts were also tried, 
with no luck.  I used a voltmeter on the points when they were 
installed and found that even when they were open, there was 
continuity (is that normal?) across the contacts.  They were gapped 
to .016" and I could see daylight between them.  I put the timing 
light on and only the #1 plug wire appears to have juice enough to 
trigger the flash.  I'm barely qualified to call myself a shadetree 
mechanic, so this one's got me stupified.  I ran out of daylight 
before I got a chance to hold the ends of each wire near a ground 
source to check for spark, so that's the only thing left I can think 
of to try besides using the 196's original coil.  Oh yeah, the 
terminal connections at the coil and on the starter solenoid are 
tight.  I'm sure I've forgotten something, but the post is already 
long enough.  Any help at all will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Myron
'68 800 4x4 (now powered by a 196!)