Here is an update:
After all my work trying out options and suggestions, I finally had the truck towed to a nearby, recommended garage (Parents, in S.W. Mpls) and Dan took a look. Turned out the compression is fine. The problem turned out to be that the plastic knob for the primary terminal on the side of the distributor had been overtightened in the past and broken off. I had put two nuts over the small threaded bolt as spacers. They were grounding to the distrib. He removed them and cut a piece of PVC tubing to use instead. I went to pick it up tonight and it started right up! My son and I had an exciting 2 mile drive back to our house (no fenders, box, grill, speedometer, or signal lights of any kind) but no problems! Dan did discover that the distributor shaft is bent and I will need to replace that before I do a lot of driving. Thanks to everyone who has had the patience and expertise to help me work through my various postings.
Craig, GMC53
