I've got a 68 Skylark 350-4. The coil, battery and cables, plugs, alternator, points, condenser, cap, rotor and voltage regulator are almost new. The car was running fine on Tuesday, then yesterday it started and died and now there seems to be no (or very little) spark. Any suggestions?
Is there spark or not? I would start with the basics. Measure voltage between the coil + and ground with the ignition in the run position, and the points closed. Should be 5.5-6 volts. When the starter is cranked, the reading should jump up to about 9 volts or more. If no voltage, check the wiring in the engine harness. Next, open the cap and look for anything obvious, like broken wiring or parts. Check the point gap by bumping the starter until the distributor cam opens the points. The gap should be roughly the width of a matchbook cover. Have someone try to start the car. Look for a defective coil wire. A leaky coil wire will sometimes be visible as the spark shorts out. Sometimes you can hear the crackling as well as see the spark shorting.
