Jim, The first thing I do in that situation is to hit it with some starting fluid and see if it tries to crank. Do this several times to make sure that it will always crank with the starting fluid. If it starts and dies every time then you must have a fuel problem. If it doesn't try to start, First check to see if you are getting any fire from the coil. Pull the wire out of the distributor and touch it to a metal surface that is grounded. Have someone try to start it and slowly pull the coil wire away from the surface about 1/8th to 1/4 inch, but no farther. See if you have fire. If there's spark there check to see if it's getting to the spark plugs. If no spark from the coil, check the voltage on the negative side of the coil while having someone try to start it. The voltage should go from zero to 12 volts. This is easier to do with an analog meter. It won't respond fast enough to swing from 0 to 12 but you can tell if it's moving. You are basically testing the dwell when doing this. If it stays at 12 volts with no motion on the meter suspect the pickup coil in the distributor or the ecu. Next, test the pickup coil. Unplug the two prong connector at the distributor and check the resistance of the pickup coil. It should be between 150 and 900 ohms. If it checks OK then check your wiring between it and the ECU. I wish I was there. I can check all of that out quicker than I can type it.