I've got a strange problem. I tried starting the car up last weekend, but it was missing on several cylinders. I didn't have time to mess with it, and since it had been raining for the better part of the week, figured something may just be damp and needs to dry out. I tried starting it today and can't seem to get anything to fire. I've gone all over it and have found some confusing results.
My normal test to see if I even have spark works. I pulled one of the plugwires, placed a screwdriver into it and turned the engine. It arcs from the screwdriver to ground. This led me to chase some other avenues for awhile. I came back to the ignition again. Pulled a plug to check the gap on it. They're dead on at .035. I put one of the plugs onto the plug wire, placed it onto ground, and turned the engine. No spark! I held the wire away from the ground and now it sparks!
This is a standard points distributor, with a standard coil. The point gap looks good. I've removed the tach to ensure there's nothing interfering with it. Anyone have a clue what could be going on here, and how to fix it?
BTW, one of the other things I was checking was compression. What would be a good value for a 350 with 47 heads?

coil positive and negative on wrong terminals? Weak coil?

If you have an inductive timing light handy, attach to a plug lead and watch it while cranking. Strobe should be even, no misses.

Ah good ol Murphy! The first thing that springs to mind--well wet, but I'll get back to that--is the grounded plug. I have always had dismal sucess at trying to get the plug to ground. Despite the fact that I never assume when I troubleshoot, spark plugs are the one exception. I assume that plugs are good, and if I have any doubt, I replace with known good plugs.

Discovered by doing stupid stuff, the engine will run on one bank with the other bank disconnected. It runs like major crap, but you can get it to fire.

I bet money that you have a bad cap. As a bail out method, You can douse the inside of the distributor with wd-40 and all over the outside, and-often they'll start. I feel more than confidant to say that if you replace the cap, it will fire because the problem you describe is a textbook example of a bad cap.

ya might try it at night or in a dark garage.
if you are getting a major short, you will be able to see the spark easier in the dark and go from there. just remember, if you use a garage,
dont stay in there if you get car started. we dont need to lose ya to carbon monoxide poisoning.

dallas