With advice posted on other threads have managed to get my '68 Coronet to turn over with the key again.( Thanks everyone for your help this far). Cleaned bulkhead connectors, installed new fusible link, replaced points, condenser,dist.cap ,coil. and do not have spark at top of coil as suggested in a previous post. Before this all started the engine fired right up and one day nada. Any suggestions for what I should do next? Thank you
Update...Checked coil with meter and secondary resistance is well below spec. A Super coil a friend gave me has .8 ohms primary resistance vs 1.5 or so spec but secondary is good. Tried it anyway and still no spark Is it toast too? Ballast resistor is 1.5 ohms vs .5 spec Toast? jumped the connectors and nothing.

 

i would start by making sure you have power to the coil and dizzy then go from there.

 

have power to the coil.( batt side and dist side)

 

First find out if the points are opening/ closing.

Clip a test lamp to coil POSITIVE and make sure you have power with key in "RUN"

Next crank the engine USING THE KEY, and NOT by jumpering the start relay, and make sure you have a "good" light. If using a meter, you should have the same voltage as battery, and not below 10.5V

NEXT clip your light to the coil NEGATIVE. Crank the engine, and see if the light flashes on/ off, or bright/ dim. If not, either the points are set wrong, the primary wire is shorted somewhere (at the points or going through the dist. case) or the condenser is shorted.

If the points are opening and closing............

and you have good power to the coil...........

Then it's either a bad coil or a bad condenser.

You MUST have a good condenser to make sparks.


It is doubtful you got two bad coils in a row. You can run the car for a minute or a few (watch coil temp) with the coil resistor bypassed.

Easiest way to be CERTAIN you have coil voltage is to make a nice big long clip lead and clip directly from a handy battery point (like the alternator output stud, or the big stud on the start relay) and go directly to the coil POS terminal.

 

How's the ground at your block?

 

it started, it started. Many thanks. After all that the final bug was the points were way off . On to the tune up phase.