I put my ZFR5N plugs back in. See pic below of the 7's after being removed. I test drove with the 5's and there's no ping (the correct carburetor solved that).
The distributor shaft is in good shape. I didn't know there's supposed to be a gap between the distributor reluctor and its pickup. I had set zero gap last time I changed springs. I have now set the gap to 0.008" but I don't think the idle is much better if at all.
I'm not sure what you mean by leaking spark plug boots. The contacts where the wires clip onto the plugs are clean. I do seem to have a bit of oil seeping out past the plug tube seals, but it might just be running down from the valve cover which was leaking in the recent past.
When you say try a jumper direct, you mean from the battery + to the coil +?
My timing light worked last weekend but yesterday there was no light. I emailed Actron to see if I can get a replacement strobe. This is the $90 dial-back light with tach, which has been working great for several years.
OK, I will. Easy and cheap enough to try.
These are the heat range 7 plugs I removed.
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