The engine: 2056 w/dual Webers; Mallory Unilite Distributor

The scene: caught in a severe downpour

The issue: started up but ran slightly rougher than usual but did smooth out. Drove ~3 miles home and, about a block from my house, I heard a "pop" and car died. Not sure if it was a carb backfire or something else. Coasted down the road and into the garage.

My relay board did not have a cover on it so I figured something got wet and caused the unilite module to pop. Ordered a new module and installed it. Still no start. Tested the module and it tested as good.

I then swapped out the relay and then the relay board and same result. Turn key, starter turns, but no start. Fuel pump is working. Coil tests OK at 3.5ohm across (+) and (-) Fuses on relay board and under dash are all good.

What else should I check?

Thanks,
steve

Do you have 12v at the coil? Have you confirmed that you are not getting spark?

Yes, 12v at coil.
Have not confirmed spark... need to find a helper

Checking spark takes seconds, the quickest way to rule out half the potential rabbit trails. Pull a plug wire, stick a plug in it, ground the threads against the case, crank the starter, look for spark.

If you don't have a human helper, one of these is handy to have around:
http://www.harborfreight.com/12-volt-remot...itch-35448.html

Grabbed my daughter and had her crank. Very weak to no spark
Swapped out the coil, adjusted the timing, and it is now running.

Thanks for the assistance

steve

Funny, before parts started getting made in China, coil failures were extremely rare. To the point that old school mechanics would probably check everything else twice before going to the coil...

I have OEM coils as spare parts to replace the new ones when they die

Have a new Bosch blue coil in mine, guess I'm not gonna sell my old one after all. It's going in the car!

Paul

Coil was an old school Bosch blue. I didn't check it first because I thought they were pretty much failsafe. But when I saw the weak spark, I thought it couldn't hurt to swap it out... with another old Bosch!

Old school are the OEM ones...the blue ones are new tech.