Ground(?) strap in the distributor causing no-spark amongst other woes

[TXMeatball]

Howdy all. Got a 77 that I'm trying to resurrect after a couple years of neglect. I've done a lot to it recently trying to fix a poor idle. Just put the carb back on after cleaning out some gunk in the bowl and I now have no spark.
Unfortunately forgot to take pictures of the ignition coil before pulling it. I think I got it wired back in correctly (at least how it was) but still nothing. The only wires I touched here were the ones attached to the coil. The EWD I found for a 77 doesn't touch much on the ignitor to ballast stuff.

The ignition coil and ballast ohm'd out to spec, so I think they're good.
I did some more research and found out that leaving the key in the ignition can melt the points. I've definitely done that for long intervals this past week, oops. I pulled the distributor several days ago to retime it/change o-ring and clean out the contacts. Pulled it again to check the points and found this highly corroded wire. It separated as soon as I touched it.

Not a ton of information on this wire that I can find. AI calls it a breaker plate ground strap? Is this my smoking gun?
Looks easy enough to recreate. Is there any reason why it's partially exposed and not fully insulated?

 

[charliemeyer007]

No clue. Grounds don't require insolutation, make a new wire and clean the contact places on each end.
Your points adjustment looks off - like they don't open. You should clean the contact on both ends of the big fat black wire. There needs to be a connecting wire on the outside of the dizzy at the left end of the big fat black wire.

Check the IG fuse with a meter - they can look good but actually be bad.

 

[Pighead]

Is this my smoking gun?

Maybe. One might think that the breaker plate is grounded thru the dizzy. Toyota thought differently. Probably a good reason for that wire. It's broken and the engine won't fire...