Please help

The front mounts use a balalst resistor, so the votlage at the top of the coil will bob from battery votlage to some lower number as points open and close. If you remove the coil and put a test lamp inline with the power wire and the points contact screw, the lamp should flicker when the engine is bumped over.

As for the coils burning up.. sound slike you are not running correct resistance.

The oem 6v coil on a 6v system needed the oem ballast resistor. To run that same 6v coil on 12v you needed the oem ballast resistor and a 8ne10306 dropping resistor. If you have a newer 'tisco style 12v coil'.. then you need a 1/2 ohm 10 or 20 watt power resistor inline with the coil as they are not robust at 14.7v.

Condensor goes between points contacts as a switch debouncer.

Soundguy

You can also use an analog voltmeter if you don't have a test light. Don't use a digital voltmeter for a test like this, the integration time is too long to see individual pulses.

Hard to tell from your description if you may have something in the points wired wrong, but if they aren't opening & closing properly you won't have spark.

The moveable arm on the points is connected to a screw terminal mounted on insulating material. The copper band is probably the connection between the moveable arm and the terminal. The low side of the coil and the condensor are both electrically connected to the moveable arm. When the points close, the low side of the coil is grounded via the fixed contact.

The top of the coil will be at battery voltage, unless you have a ballast resistor, in which case the top of the coil should be at about 1/2 battery votage when the points are closed (current being drawn through resistor) and battery voltage when the points are open (meter won't draw enough current to cause a voltage drop through the resistor) 8+ volts seems a little low, but may just be the battery voltage when its cranking.

Keith

K-Mo