well, i've taken all your opinions into accound and my problem is not in the AMM. I've tracked the problem down to this: when the car is cranking over there is no spark coming from the coil. none, nada. When the key is released from the "start" position into the "on" position there is then a spark at the exact same time the key is released.
I then though that there may be a problem in the ignition switch. I had an extra and switched it out with no difference. I did electrical tests on the ignition control box and found no problems and also switched it out with another known working control box and it behaved the same way. This leads me to believe that there is a problem within the Hall Sender in the distributor.
While working with this I also noticed that my rpm guage shows NO signal until the key is released. it then jumps up to 3 or 4 k for a split second. I have managed to get the car to start on this release from time to time, it just takes a while. once the car finally starts it runs perfectly and I have a perfect rpm signal. this is a stumper but still points me towards that Hall sender... what do you guys think? thanks for stickin with me through this one