Why not cook marshmallows on my under dash fire?

We assume you know that the points open and close as the engine turns. When stopped, they can be either open or closed. Pull the distributor cap and turn the engine over slowly by hand. You should see the rotor turn and the cam on the shaft push the points open and close. If the rotor doesn't turn, and you have a slant six engine (didn't tell us!), the plastic gear on the bottom probably broke. Replacements are cheap (ebay). Otherwise, figure out why the points aren't opening (wrong gap, ...). When they are open at max, measure the gap w/ feeler gage and set to factory spec.

If still no spark, best to remove the distributor and spin it by hand for easier testing. You must ground the case to the engine (and that to BATT-) for it to work. A bad ground could even be your "as installed" no-spark problem. If still no spark, go real basic, like a high school physics lab. Instead of the distributor, connect a jumper wire to coil-. Ground it for 1 sec. You should get a spark each time you remove it from ground. Post photos so we verify you understand each test.