I have a new starter too, and a nice Bosch alternator that's about 4 years old. When running, I only get about 13.1 volts or so at the battery terminal, which seems kind of low, but should that even effect that starting at all? I've also checked the main ground strap and cleaned it up.
Could a problem with the points be causing this problem? Once the van starts, it runs and idles like a champ, and doesn't seem to have any running issues. The points are only about a year old, and were set up with Colin. I checked the distributor cap, rotor and the condition of the points themselves, and they're all still shiny and new looking (which they are--all only about a year old).
One more piece of information: Sometimes when cranking the key, the starter solenoid just clicks once and doesn't do anything, again, almost like the battery is dead. This has been very frustrating, and me and my fiance are supposed to be taking the Vanagon on our honeymoon in a week (getting married on the 11th!
), and I'm worried that it won't be reliable enough and our plans will be ruined. 
In other news, we just moved to the Asheville, NC area from southern California 3 months ago, and are loving it!
