68 dart 318 troubleshooting challenge

RedFish said
Place a jumper directly across the resistor and try to start it.

I tried that early on also... but I will try again when I get home.. (new battery, dist. and stuff since trying that last time)

thanks to you guys on this board, I think I understand the ballast resistor pretty well now.

I am getting a nice, regular spark thru the plug now. It looks like a pretty strong spark to me, the car won't start, but I can crank it for a long time and the spark does not go away, or fade... again, this is all hapening with the coil wired directly to the battery.

I am at work now, but tonight I'll check the valve and piston relationship to see if it may be the timing chain.

thanks again for all y'alls help, I have learned so much in the last few weeks from this forum. that car would still be sitting and rotting if it weren't for you all! (well, technically it still is sitting, but hopefully not for long!)