Re: coil smoking
You didn't say how long you were in the house ? You did say that you were cranking this thing enough to wear down the battery. If by chance you had started the coil cooking before going into the house, and the points are ok, check your shift interupter switch to make sure that it is not stuck or the contacts shorted. A coil is a transformer, transformers are ment to work with AC, however they work on boats, cars and motorcyles (DC) because the points "make and break" the negative connection, kind of acting like AC. If at anytime, that make and break or pulse stops(with power applied) then the coil is seeing straight DC....it will fry. Before you install a new coil (as the other guy's pointed out), disconnect the positive(+12V) wire from the coil, and put the positive lead of a meter or test light on the wire while the negative or ground of the meter or light is grounded, with the key off you should see no voltage or light, now turn the key on, you should see +12volts or a lit test light. If that checks out, reconnect the positive wire to the coil and clip your positive meter probe there (or test light). Now dissconnect the negative wire or wires from the negative post of the coil. connect your meter (or test light) negative to this wire or wires, with the key on are you getting 12 volts ? If so, "bump" the starter a time or two....still 12 volts ? If yes, take off the distributer cap and look at the points...if they are open or you can bump the starter untill they are open and you still have 12 volts....you have a ground short. If there are two wires going to the coil ground test them individualy.
