[F-1540]

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to make suggestions. 
I’ll need to revisit the 4/8 uf caps I put in place to take the place of the can. I scabbed in some  Solen PPE series but looking at the data sheet I do not see where they give  a dv/dt  they are physically too big anyways to mount in the can.    I do remember seeing a nice write up on this point somewhere.  
 I  am powering this 6vdc positive ground radio from a switcher power supply on the bench at the moment. Of course all the covers are off also. Probably everything around the workshop is generating some RFI the radio does not like.  Good point about going with the car battery and radio covers to see if things quiet down.  I have a 6 V battery available and I will give this a try.   I do not think the car has any of the Ford Philco noise suppression gizmos but I’ll cross that bridge later. 

 I can push a strong signal through the receiver and the oscillator seems to track decently so I am encouraged there may be some hope. I have a pretty clean signal from the IF to audio and rocked the padders a bit per the alignment procedure, The alignments seem to be peaked.  I do not have any tubes to try nor a tube tester but I may order a 78 and 6A7 just in case it is a weak RF or DET/OSC.   I have more stuff to buy from ARS anyways.  
I’ll take the suggestions offered here and add them to my checklist of things to ponder over.  I’m sure I’ll formulate more questions while partaking in an adult beverage.
Thanks All. This is an awesome resource!

Bill