Lloyd,
You're right about what it looks like, C1 is just like most tuning capacitors plates either fully meshed or open. One thing to make sure of is the band pass transformer, T1 (right?), is making good connection on all windings. The test signal is injected just about at the antenna connection so there's a few stages involved in getting good response.?
If you haven't already, start working through Hans' troubleshoot guide.?
Best of luck!
--Al
