Purney,
Condensers do fail and they can cause the problem you seem to have. The easiest test would be to attach your multimeter to the - side of the coil and ground. This would be in the DC volts mode. As you crank the engine over with the key on, the meter should alternate between 6 volts or so and zero volts. If it does this, the points are opening and closing, and the condenser is fine.
The points are the 'switch' for the coil. With the key on and the points closed, the coil windings will saturate. When the points open, the primary winding collapses across the secondary and creates the high voltage...ZAP! If you pull the cap and turn the motor with the fan until the points are closed, then turn the key ON and open the points with a screwdriver, you should be able to get the high tension coil wire to ZAP a gap to a good ground...is this how you tried to do it? I think this is how it works!
Stuart
