Tach dwell meter hook up

Could a coil be damaged by hooking a tach dwell meter up to the wrong post on the coil? ("Asking for a friend', LOL)

It shouldn't, assuming the meter is OK.

One thing that often happens during engine tests is that the key is left on for an extended period of time with the points in a closed position, or the test lead that connects to the negative coil terminal becomes grounded. This can overheat the coil in a few minutes.

The reason I ask is because "someone" hooked up a tach dwell meter ( an old "MILTON" analog brand) to the wrong post, +,  on the coil checking to both see if the meter worked and what the dwell was. That was the last time the car ran right. Now I have all the indications of a bad coil, extremely hard starting, very rough idle that wont stay idling.........

FYI, I had just replaced the points, condenser, rotor, wires, plugs and cap, and the car started after barely touching the key and ran great, then "someone" didn't want to leave well enough alone, now this!

Connecting it to the positive terminal, even with an old malfunctioning meter shouldn't bother the coil. The meter likely has several capacitors in it, and even if they were charged and discharged into the coil there wouldn't be enough current to damage the coil.

I would check the resistance on the primary and secondary sides of the coil, see if they are OK.

I would also double check the point gap and make sure the ground wire on the breaker plate is firmly connected to the distributor body. Measure the voltage to the coil on the positive terminal with the points open and closed.

Does the meter work? I have analog and digital meters, and for most things, like dwell, prefer the analog meters.

Just checked the coil with a multimeter, if I'm reading it correctly I'm getting 1.6 ohms when checking between the posts of the coil, and 9100 ohms when checking between the + post and the large center female receptical. The "online" info I read says .4-2 ohms for the posts and 6000 to 15000 between the+ post and large female receptical on the coil

The indications I have when attempting a start are a good strong cranking sound, and it sputters sounds like it wants to start but if it starts, it runs very rough and will die if I let off the gas. 

Like i said it ran great before I hooked that old MILTON meter to the wrong post on the coil, but it was on the - post of the battery, that's why I thought I may have damaged the coil, and why I checked it today. I'm up for any suggestions. 

The coil sounds like it is fine.

If everything inside the distributor is connected and working correctly I would look for a vacuum leak. 

It's possible you condenser failed.

Does your meter have a high voltage (coil output) function?

Plugged my vacuum  with short plugged lines hooked up to the vacuum "tree" on the intake manifold and no change.

My next step is going to be removing a valve cover and see if my rocker arms are rockin'. Hope it's not the timing chain

I was going to replace the new points with the old ones, but while I was bumping the engine to get on the high lobe, I saw a very strong white spark at the points, so I'm assuming that's good to that point?  I've already tried it with the old condenser and cap installed, no change.

Everything is back together now with the new ignition parts. This is really bugging me, because it was running so well, then 'BOOM", this problem. Thanks for your input.......... It's like a gremlin got into my garage over night and messed with something, LOL!

No start update:

Rechecked everything AGAIN, coil resistance was within limits, the  battery and starter are good,

 I have fuel to the carb and the filter is free, the rotor rotates, I have spark from the coil, and I have spark when checking the #1 plug grounded to the engine, I even checked the plug wire routing, it's good.

What could cause a smooth running, idling engine to just quit, then when a restart is attempted, it sputters and won't idle at all?

This Saturday, with assistance, I'm going to check TDC on #1 and see if the timing chain skipped. I think the crank bolt is 15/16th's"?

What else is left?

Coils and capacitors can break down when they warm up. I would start by replacing the condenser in the distributor. Make sure the ground wire between the breaker plate and distributor body is in place.

Update: Swapped coils, no help, checked timing marks and distributor were within limits had good spark anywhere I was supposed to, took the top off the carb, and sucked all the gas out of the bowl and filled it with fresh gas, and co-incidently also  removed the new points and put the old ones back, turned the key, and it immediately started. Discovered also that the plastic block on the points where the wires hook up to would not stay on the points where it was supposed to and kept popping up off where it was supposed to attached.  Not sure about the bad gas, but I may get some octane booster just in case, also a new set of points.

Thanks for all the inputs. after all the trouble shooting, it was something as basic as this?????? I won't take all the credit, I have a friend that's head and shoulders above my car  knowledge He was a great help without a doubt. He refers to my car talent as "tinker and wax', LOL!!

Glad you got it fixed. Most of the time the "head scratchers" turn out to be something simple. Chuck

Edit: The Echlin points from Napa used to be better than many of the others. I don't know if they still are.