I seem to be making some progress on my basketcase CJ3B, aka Frankenjeep.

The solenoid was bad, so I changed that to our host's solenoid. This is when I discovered that the wiring between the battery, ammeter, alternator, starter switch, coil and solenoid was not to spec. The previous owner had a four post solenoid on the firewall and for whatever reason the wiring was somewhat cobbled together and nothing matched at the starter switch. I also had extra wires from the coil and alternator running to the fourth post on the old solenoid, labeled "1". I ripped out all of this previous wiring and ran it back to factory spec. That seems to have fixed the solenoid problem.

Now it seems I have an ignition timing problem. There's no mark on the flywheel, so I have to guess. I have the firing order correct: from the distributor: counter-clockwise 1-3-4-2, and on the engine, fan to firewall: 1-2-3-4.

It's starting, but it's running rough and backfiring into the exhaust. I played with the distributor position, but even in an optimum position it backfires.

I checked the plugs and they seem to be getting spark--though I understand they should be blue, not white-yellowish orange. The spark plug and point gaps seem to be right.

What's my next best step?

The coil is going to need to be replaced. It melted down/exploded while I was checking my wires and spark plugs. I suspect this was because I left the ignition switch in "drive" while I was doing this, but as I mentioned above, I also recently rewired the coil. The hot side is coming from the ignition switch post labeled "ignition". The ground is direct to the distributor.

Can a coil melt/explode if the key is left in drive position?