Coil and electronic ignition question

[Arne]

If it just dies suddenly, I'd bet on the Pertronix, not the coil. If the coil was getting too hot, I'd expect it to start breaking up and missing before it died. But if it just up and dies, that sounds like a sudden failure of the Pertronix to detect the passing magnets and therefore, no spark at all.

Since this was installed by the PO, I'm going to guess that you don't have a set of points or the little nylon terminal block to be able to go back to points as a test? That complicates things, if so.

The Blaster 2 coil is only 0.7Ω primary resistance, which is going to be quite low even with a resistor, the wiring for which appears to be missing in your pictures.

If you can't go back to points as a test, the next best thing would be to get it warm enough to die, and then (while it still won't start), check for spark. Personally, I hate having to throw money at it for troubleshooting, so I wouldn't buy another cil just to test.

Have you confirmed that once it dies, there is no spark at all? While it is dead, I wonder if you could test the coil by triggering it manually?

Edited June 23, 2011 by Arne

[FastWoman]

Have you confirmed that once it dies, there is no spark at all? While it is dead, I wonder if you could test the coil by triggering it manually?

... or alternatively, maybe you could give both of your carbs a shot of starter fluid when this happens, and see if the engine will fire briefly.

[manny1973]

I don't have terminal block to go back to points. I will drive the car this weekend to verify no spark when it dies. It's big pain to do that because sometimes it take 30 minutes before it will start again.

I will try the starting fluid. if it starts then it's not electrical, correct.

The wires for the ballast resistor are there just taped. How would I trigger the coil??

[Arne]

I will try the starting fluid. if it starts then it's not electrical, correct.

Correct.

The wires for the ballast resistor are there just taped. How would I trigger the coil??

Well, if the ballast wires exist, they must be jumpered together for the car to run. To install a resistor matching coil, you'll need to find and un-jump those two wires, and connect them to a resistor.