CJ3A Direct Short Battery to Block: Ignition Issues

[bmorgil]

Chris the coil body is grounded at the engine block. It is probably the blue coating providing the insulator to ground. I was trying to be sure the engine is well grounded. Just to be sure check from the distributor housing casting to the Neg battery terminal, there should be 0 ohms. The distributor has to be grounded. Since the starter is turning over, I expect it is OK. Next check the coil wire for impedance. The coil wire should be around 5,000 to 10,000 ohms per foot if it is a resistor core wire. It will be much less if the wires are spiral core.

If it passes the above I can currently think of only one more thing. Pull the distributor cap off and verify that the rotor is turning when the motor is spinning.