Purney,
There are anti-static capacitors that are attached in various places in the system, the + side of the coil being one of them. They help reduce electrical noise in the radio...they look just like a ignition condenser. This probably isn't a part of your problem, but you can disconnect it if it bugs you.
Have you pulled the distributor cap and actually inspected the points yet. Your screwdriver test should have gotten results, although you will want to hold the screwdriver 'near' the ground to create a gap for the voltage to fire across. It's pretty easy to just pull the coil wire out of the cap and hold it near the engine block and wait for the zzzzap!
Stuart
