Sometimes a ground strap off of the coil directly to the firewall cures this issue.
off another forum.
Make sure you have:
1. Good battery, more important good grounding with the negative term and engine block.
2. Good 12 Volts to the coil. If this is the electronic dist set up, ditch the ceramics.
3. Hook the wires up as directed. Mine was black to ground, red to hot side of coil and orange to negative side. It also needed to use the hook up kit that came with the dist.
4. Recheck your spark with key on, coil wire out should be 12volts.
5. Ensure timing is on so things will come to life.
Sounds like you have that.
