Thanks for all your help guys, I was finally able to get it started today. It turns out the good spark I thought I had was actually pretty weak. Over the course of the past few weeks it turned to no spark while I was installing a Kirk Engines PointSaver module, with the condenser eliminated and my points gap set perfectly, I replaced the ignition coil and now I have an excellent big blue spark at the plug.
I have one concern though, after it started running, the muffler started bleeding smoke and turning black near one of the pipe connections. Do you guys think this is just two weeks of unlit fuel sitting there burning up? would it be safe to just let it run and burn off? i mean it was an alarming amount of smoke. After it started the normal amount of smoke came out of the muffler end, but then it seemed to die down a bit and exclusively come out of this pipe connection, which of course has been untouched this entire time.
video of it smoking, click to play I guess?
pic:
