i solved one problem, sorta, last night. the ignition switch was indeed left in the on position. i extra double confirmed this by popping the distributor cap to find a small pile of ash where the points were and a melted condenser wire. the new battery now reads less than 1 volt. oh well. at that point i had other things to do so it got pushed into the garage for another day.

so wrenchbender, should i be able to hit the starter switch (it is a floor start) even without the ignition switch in "on" and it will spin? all the proper cables are at least present, though i haven't checked their condition as far as the continuity goes. the puzzler is that it worked really well about a week ago, week and a half maybe, and now nothing. the only thing that changes is the ignition switch was left on untill yesterday. what else can burn out in that situation?