First off, thanks to everyone here for helping a 1200 newbie out. I appreciate it immensely.

I have a strange one. My car ran fine when I first got it a few weeks ago. It started running bad, so I checked the points and all appeared fine. Still running bad (after warmup) I replaced the cap, rotor, and wires. Still does the same. (The spark plugs look great)

On a whim, I installed the ignition coil out of my '79 A14 and my car ran great all the time. I ordered a new coil, and it reverted back to the same old problems. I then replaced the ballast resistor, and the same symptoms appear.

The new coil is marked 12v and says it is to be run using a ballast resistor. My '79 coil should be a 12v also, but that system has no ballast resistor.

Any ideas why it runs bad using the coil designed for the resistor? Will I damage anything using the non-ballast resistor coil?

I am open to any suggestions. This one has me a bit baffled...

Thanks again!

Did you put new points and set the dwell angle to spec?

Possible cause is the points are #### and cause to much resistance for anything less than 12v

The points looked okay as far as being burned or worn. I don't have a dwell meter, so I checked the gap with a feeler gauge and that was to spec. (I believe it's .020) For the cost of a used dwell meter, I was planning on buying the Pertronix ignition system very soon.

Is the std coil supposed to be a 6 volt or 12 volt?

the coil is a 12 volt for your app..

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Thanks for that. I suspect that the wiring for the coil/ballast resistor may be off. I have a manual coming in the next week or so that has a wiring diagram, so I can check it out and make sure it is wired correctly.

I noticed that the car has a wire running from the + side of the ballast resistor directly to the anti-dieseling solenoid on the carburetor. I know that is not correct, so I suspect there may be some other gremlins afoot. Once I get the wiring diagram, I can check it out and take it from there.

Thanks again for the help.

Check your main ignition lead isn't dicky, when your moving it around it could be stuffed under the cap,
the wire to the carby soleniod only powers the soleniod when the ignition is on it will be OK as long as its on the incoming side or the resistor.
If it's a resistor ciol it should be 9 volts not 12.
Trev

How do you measure dwell angle?

I only know how to change points and check the gap...

does it run bad only at idle or all the time?
(under load)

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It requires an electonic device called a dwell meter.

Dwell is the number of degrees the distributor cam rotates while the points are closed. Decreasing the points gap increases the dwell angle, and vice versa.

If you look at the tuneup specs, it mentions points gap and dwell angle specs.

Setting the gap is usually okay, but the dwell meter is a more accurate way to set the points.

The Pertronix Ignitor kit eliminates all of that, and it is about $20 more than a used dwell meter, so I am going to order one tomorrow.

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It runs bad most of the time, and doesn't idle very well. I popped my 210 coil back in it this morning, and it runs fine with that coil. I believe the correct coil is a 1.5k ohm, and I haven't yet measured the 210 coil.

I checked all the connections at the dizzy, and I also popped off the condenser and made sure it was getting a good ground. I also checked the points gap again, which was fine.

It's very strange that one coil runs great, and the two "correct" ignition coils for that application don't work well.

Strange.