Volkswagen: 1969 Volkswagen Beetle..wont start, volkswagen beetle, car ignition

Question
Ron, you may just be my saving grace. I recently puchased and old 1969 VW Beetle that im having a bit of trouble getting to start. THe previous owners are friends of the family, and we had a nice little adventure getting the car to start once. THe owners insisted on a bad starter, and that they were capable of towing the car, then getting it to start. after about an hour of fun, they managed to get the car to run. I bought it for $300 (dont laugh) and its been in my backyard ever since. I replaced the starter the next day, only to find that the key wouldn't turn the starter over. After a bit of research i concluded that it must be the ignition switch. to save you a bit of time and story, it was the regularot that was giving me trouble. i replaced that as well. (as well as the ignition coil) Now I can get the starter to crank the engine every time i turn the key, but no spark to the ignition points in the distributor. Another thing, the previous owners had this switch rigged that would supply power to the ignition coil, because sometimes "when it rained" there was a fault in the wiring and the headlights and wipers wouldn't work? Can you yet understand my frustration? this car is a mess, but i am determined. I plan to buy new wiring harnesses, i found them for about $200 complete set for the car. I need to know what i need to check to get ignition , (i am getting power at the coil now, without that switch..) I know that there was a tick of corrosion on the ignition points, which i scraped off. I've replaced the spark plugs and cables, so hopefully those wont give me any trouble. (God willing) so...yeah. :-) any ideas?

Answer
This should fix your problem.

1) Make sure that the black coil wire is on + .  Take a meter or test light.  Attach one side (+) on the meter to the black wire, and one to the body of the car.  When the car ignition is turned on, the light should light or meter should read about 12 volts.

2) Make sure that the green wire coming from the distributer is connected to the - on the coil.

3) There other wires on the + part of the coil.  1 for the reverse lights and one for the electric choke on the carb.  Make sure they are all connected properly and the electric choke wire is not broken or grounding out the coil.

4) Definately replace the following:

Points
Cap
Rotor
Condensor

(this is all under $30.00)

You can find Mid-America motorworks online who carries these parts.

If all this fails, the coil is bad (even if it's new).

Let me know how you make out.


Ron