2n ignition has me baffled

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Weak sparkies from your Niehoff coil indicate some of your internal coil windings have been shorted out due to overheating from using 8 volts on it and melting the insulative tar. The reason it started up last night was because the coil and the tar were "cold" (grin).

Unless you were refering to one of your Taiwanise coils, in which case, it was hot from running and the inslulative tar had melted and shorted out some of the coil windings thus causing weak sparkies.

1 1/2 hrs of running time before "failing" on 2 "new" ignition coils could indicate a "bad batch" of coils. I know you won't like this suggestion, but I'd try another seller of N-Tractor ignition coils for a different batch..... ..Dell

Condensers can go bad 3 different ways. (1) they can "open up" and cause your ignition points to "burn". You've replaced the points. So I tend to discount that idea. (2) they can "short out" and bypass your ignition points and then nuttin' would run. Since the condenser is across your ignition point, if the condenser was shorted, your ignition points would never effectively open and create sparkies. I tend to discount that idea.
(3) condensers can "leak", that is they are only semi-shorted and act like another voltage droping resistor. This would reduce your sparkies and could be time/temp related.

As I explained earlier, its generally eazier to replace them than to have it checked out. Most tune-up places don't bother, they chuck it. If you are really determined, you might find an old timey T-V repair shop and get it electronically tested there. But even there, they'd probably need to know what a good one is like. See most electronic components have "values" printed or color coded on them. Most automotive condensors have "nothing" on them. ..... ...Dell

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