Help with my 80 c10 olds 455

[MARCUS'S 68]

Alright peeps I just picked up a very very nice 80 SWB for a very very cheap price. Problem is it has a 455 in it the scoop I got was the previous owner was driving it one day and it just died when he went to crank it over it did nothing. First thing I did was pulled the starter and it was froze so I replaced it and cranked the truck and the starter jumped but battery was weak put another battery in it and then all of a sudden I was not getting power to anything i wiggled the pos battery cable a she was powered up again now the the starter won't even jump I noticed the key kinda hard to turn after tearing into the column I noticed someone had been in there before everything was loose! When the starter was jumping and I turned the key foward to the on position the brake lights in the dash would dim now they aren't dimming and the starter isn't budging! I feel like the points in the ignition isn't getting contact and the module looks difficult to remove so tommorrow I am heading to the salvage yard for a whole steering column my question is am I headed in the right direction or do I need to be looking elsewhere hope someone out there can help! Thanx Members for any input!