Mike, I don't know if you got your '77 280 started yet. If you're still having troubles here's a couple more ideas... Behind the passenger seat, under the carpeting there is a pair of wires with bullet style connectors on them. These wires feed power to the fuel pump. They might be hidden under a insulating type tape and then run through the floorpan via a rubber grommet. The one's on my '77 came loose somehow and were causing the same problem you're experiencing. Another thing to check is for spark. Don't just check spark coming from the coil wire, check for spark at each wire going to the spark plug. If you have a defective distributor cap, more often you will find that not all spark plugs are getting electricity. The spark should be consistent and strong enough to jump a 1/8'' gap. Just a few ideas (from personal experience).