Idont know how old this is. But you can by pass your ignition switch by wiring a toggle witch to the 12 volt side of your ballast and to a 12 volt source. That can be your ignition switch i have done that alot on mopars. If i were you i would by pass the ignition switch with a toggle switch and buy a brand new ballast resistor and buy new plugs ngk work the best for me in chrysler engines. And throw a choke on it and see what happens from there.

what NGK's do you use on the 440?

If originality is not an issue and you still think you have ignition trouble why not use an aftermarket ignition?I use msd in everything hard to go wrong with multiple sparks with a lot of juice behind them.I have also had the side benefit of it "hiding" a poorly tuned carb,unless that carb is literally pouring fuel down your intake it will fire.

my 72 440 wagon is stock as stock can be other than a street demon carb with choke. Even after sitting over the winter, it will start on the 2nd try. Even now, it hasnt been start or even looked at in 2 weeks, Pedal to the floor twice, crank her up and it will start. it will idle like crap for about 15-20 seconds and then be smooth as a 440 can be.

Plugs in the car have about 15K miles on them and are 4 years old. havent pulled one since they went in.

man, i hate to say but i think its time to part with this car, bad as i hate to, i just cant deal with it anymore. I let it sit a few weeks, calm my nerves down, i go out today and pull all the plugs, clean them off and get them good and hot with a lighter and try again, still no start, wont even try to hit. I can stick a plug in the end of the plug wire and its got a nice blue spark, and its definately got gas but it refuses to run regardless. I got enough to worry about with my health and all and dont need this stupid problem..wonder what a car that wont run for 'unknown reasons' is worth..?

Is there a Mopar car club in your area? If so, maybe you should consider asking a knowlwdgeable member to take a look. Sometimes in all the frustration, simple things get overlooked and an impartial set of eyes can help.

I had a pick up coil in the distributor treat me the same. I had spark jumping from the cap to the wire but acted like no fire when I tried to start it. I would try that first.

There has to be a shop in your area that doesn't mind the old iron. For plugs I swapped to regular Bosch platinums - lasted years as opposed to champions. The regular mopar system works just fine and is pretty dependable, you must have something off there. The low voltage may be an indicator. If you have a newer electronic distributor they have an adjustable advance, try backing it way out but not all the way. I'm wondering if your advance is off and its keeping the carb out of the idle circuit and the carb is just dumping...

You did double check the distributor position and the wire sequence, right? Also check the cap and the tab on the rotor.