Not Getting 12 Volts at Coil

Yep, the sound you hear is the advance weights.
When my car was acting up, it had a real week spark when it was turned over with the starter with a plug out. But when I turned the dist. over slowly by hand, it had a much brighter spark. The only differance was the starter. Took it out and had it tested. It still turned over but had a short in it.
It sounds like your on the right track replacing the coil pickup.