47 V8 ignition mystery

[Old Henry]

Prior to starting my 10,000 mile maintenance Old Henry was running fine. I replaced all of the sparkplugs and was replacing the distributor contact points when I discovered that I could not properly gap the points because the peaks on the distributor cam were worn down too much. So, I ordered a remanufactured distributor from Southside Obsolete that looked like new when it arrived. Cam peaks nice and sharp. Since the remanufacture was some time ago I replaced the points with new ones and was able to properly gap them. After installing the new distributor the engine worked even better than before . . . for one short errand. Then it started skipping beats and fairly quickly was skipping a lot - missing cylinders. I put a timing light on the coil high tension wire and the spark was very inconsistent. I suspected possible problem with the new distributor rotor I'd installed so removed the distributor cap and examined it for any damage to it or the rotor. No damage to cap nor rotor. I then suspected the old condenser/capacitor I'd had on for a long time. Removed it and checked it. Still perfect but replaced it with another perfect one. Didn't help. I then took a short drive with the timing light on the coil wire shining in my eyes while I drove. It has smoothed out but some cylinders were still missing. Back at the garage the spark at the coil wire was smooth but at the spark plugs several were very intermittent. I suspected defective wires so last night, after dark, I ran the engine in total darkness to see if I could see any sparks from any wires. I saw none but saw some slight spark leakage from the base of the spark plugs to the block. Took another drive this morning hoping for a miraculous recovery. None. Several cylinders still not firing. It seems clearly an ignition problem but I'm bewildered.

What have I missed?

Any ideas of what else to try?

Any help greatly appreciated. Old Henry is still my daily driver.