[Roger Cole]

You're getting close, but sometimes it helps to set things aside for a little while and then come back to it.

Stupid thought here. One detail I ran into was the adjustment on the variable capacitor. There is a small bolt which comes up from the bottom and has a nut soldered to the thread end of the bolt. This lets you turn the bolt by turning the nut. Mine was old and hard to turn, and before I knew it, the nut had come loose from the screw and instead of actually moving the trimmer cap, it was just moving the nut up and down the bolt. I doubt this is the issue, but it was a complication I hadn't seen before.

Don't give up. You will eventually get it working.