i have a 67 camaro with a 350/4speed. the car was out of commision for roughly 2 and a half months(i was doing suspension rebuilding)i decided to check the compresion. i let the car idle for 10 min. to warm the engine up, and completed the test. this was about 2 months ago(the last time it ran).well finally the suspension was put back together and when i went to started the car wouldn't run. now, i narrowed it down to electrical( i smelled gas so fuel is reaching the carburator) the engine cranks at normal speed(the starter is only 4 months old) the firing order is correct(new plugs also) i pulled the distributer cap off and the pionts and rotar are in good shape. the battery's charged and there is a full tank of gas. i cleaned and tightened all the wirers that would reach the coil. i pulled off the #1 spark plug boot and held it up to a ground to see if there was a spark which there was none. so my only guess is the coil, what do you guys think? is there any other way to test for a bad coil?

Easiest way to test for voltage at start and run is to connect a voltmeter to the coil plus side and engine as ground.

Turn key to run position, should have 9 to 11 or so volts engine off, then thrn key to start, should have battery voltage at plus terminal.

If there isn't spark at start, but you have voltage at run, look to the wire from the solenoid to coil plus as either broken or disconnected.

Let us know what you find on the voltage. Could also be dirty points, dead coil, etc, the usual suspects.

condenser?

well i solved the problem. i systematically went through your guys' suggestions. first i took the wire from the coil to distributor off. the conclusion was no spark. then i connected the voltmeter to the + side coil and ground. in that case i did get sufficient voltage. so i rechecked the wires and found out that the condensor's(i checked that too) wire in the distributor was not attached to the - side of the resistor(which then goes to the - coil terminal). so thanks i'll have to remember those ignition tests for the next time something like this may happen.