Hi guys! i have a 1970 nova with I believe a 350 small block out of a ‘78 nova. It has a distributor with an External separate Coil. I believe they are Accel Distributor and Coil (with the brown cap). The way they have the engine sitting so close to the firewall and using the wrong headers and such, there is no way I could fit a distributor with a built in coil on it without cutting the firewall. It runs fine until the engine warms up, it will then backfire and crank but not start back. I’ve replaced the external coil and everything is getting power. When I took a plug wire off and put a new plug in it, I cranked the car but no spark came from the plug while I had it laying on the engine. I suspect this may be the pickup module? Please help!
During the Crank/No Start when it isn't getting spark grab a test light.
Clip the test light's alligator clip to your battery Positive post.
Hold the test light's probe on the Coil's Negative post and have somebody crank the engine.
If the ICM and pickup coil inside the distributor are good the test light will flash on/off as the ignition coil's primary circuit is switched on/off as the engine cranks.
If it doesn't flash then you can test the pickup coil by measuring its resistance and comparing the value to the specs from the manufacturer.
If it's in range then replace the icm inside the distributor.
If the light does flash on/off then it's either an ignition coil, coil/spark plug wires, distributor cap/rotor issue
