[jackfrost51]

56 belair 235 straight six, just droped the engine in tonight and all is good but not spark off the coil have 12v on the power side and good ground. ok so i swaped it out with a coil i bought a while ago and still no go off the coil. do have voltage at the power side but kinda weak 9v when cranking could be weak battery but would that cause no spark hold the coil wire just off the coil and no jump spark and no zap to me. could i have two bad coils??? any ideas thanks Jim

[SPIIRIT]

Not likely both coils bad huh.....?

Put insulator between points and check across them with meter. If you get a reading then that is a problem...find the reason.

The coil needs a good ground to the chassis I would think, so check for that also.

Otherwise your lead from the ign. switch should become suspect. Also be alert for an intermittent condition which will will trick you if you're not on the alert for such shenanigans.

[400C53F100]

With your points open you should get ~12V on both sides of the coil. When the points close the (-) side of the coil should go to ground (0 Volts), and the (+) side should go to ~6 Volts. When you crank the motor or when it is running the (+) side alternates between 6 Volts and 12 Volts. When you measure this with a meter it will read ~ 9Volts. There is a resistor wire between the ignition switch and the plus side of the coil that drops 6 volts when the points are closed.

[poncho62]

Are the points set properly?

About 17 to 19 thou, I think.

[400C53F100]

The coil should NOT be grounded. You said that you had a good ground. The (-) side of the coil only goes to the points. The points supply the ground.

[crazy larry]

i say the points aren't opening.

[Kevin45]

replace the condensor also.

Kevin

[docvette]

Hi

Doc here

Do you like, have spark at the Points? set it on a closed lobe, turn the key on and using an INSULATED screwdriver open and close the points...Spark or no??

And here is one I do so very well...I get like...soooo easily distracted by shiny objects....Pretty women....long legs...headlights on the horizion...Did you really actually remember to put the rotor in when you were last in there??...I know...I know....But hey...My Road doggie is Murphy...Didn't know Corvette made a Gremlin...Till I bought a few of them...

Coil Should Be Case Grounded....(not the minus side which should head off towards the points) The 9 volt readings should be about right given the current limiter wire/resistor.

Try a new Coil wire...These Guys go bad just cuz.....Female by Nature I think...need I say more??

I'm thinkin' back to the 'Ol Stovebolt Engine here...(this requires selective endorphin triggering...) Didn't they have a Ground wire that attached to the pivot point screw on the points? And if so, Is that hooked up? And/or....Are the points getting a good ground?

Another AC Delco/General Mystery Trick...To aid in the Manic Depression of product owners...They Sometimes put a clear sleeve on the point pivot to hold the points open for shipping I think...(therefore I have headaches..) Could this be the case? Are the points actually opening and closing?

And the terminal block, the little screw port on the points, is the plastic receiver seated all the way in...and not shorting to the pivot arm ground...(This has happened to me on V8 General mystery's before ... Not sure if the sixes are configured the same way.)

And here's one from the "I don't really want to hear about it files"...Like...is the distributer Actully Turning??...maybe not seated During the rebuild?...(REF:above.. Me...shiny objects..headlights...)

I'm assuming you haven't gotten to cranking spark yet...but if this is where you actually are losing it...look at the secondary Ignition circuit.

Hope that Helps Some...
Doc

[daimon1054]

What are points?

I thank the lord every day for electronic ignition, I hated points

[poncho62]

Nothing wrong with points, if you know how to set them up...........makes it a bit more fun IMHO.

[jackfrost51]

good news is i just grabbed the distruiter off the old engine and it is new electroic and hei coil hooked up and all is good went back looked at the old dis the dam points was staying closed im a dumb *** should have looked at the easy things first thanks for the input Jim

[SPIIRIT]

Jack...you should be shot outright!....LOL!