Coil on Challenger - No spark

[71ChallRT]

I am wanting to "first fire" my Challenger 383 and I have power to the coil on both start and run, but no spark at the distributor when I spin it.  I tried two brand new coils and neither caused a spark at the distributor.  Maybe condenser?  I don't want to try starting until I'm sure I have spark.  I'm not as good with electrical as I am with mechanicals.  Anyone have suggestions?

[Bullitt-]

  It sound like your dealing with points & not electronic ignition?
A condenser can be tested with a multimeter set to ohms, I found these instructions

Remove the condenser from the engine. ...
Switch the volt ohmmeter to the ohms position. ...
Touch the red lead to the hot connector on the condenser. ...
Remove the leads and reverse the placement to the condenser. ...
Movement from the meter's needle indicates the condenser is good.

If you have a tachometer connected remove it, a bad one can ground out the ignition.

[DeathProofCuda]

I am wanting to "first fire" my Challenger 383 and I have power to the coil on both start and run, but no spark at the distributor when I spin it.  I tried two brand new coils and neither caused a spark at the distributor.  Maybe condenser?  I don't want to try starting until I'm sure I have spark.  I'm not as good with electrical as I am with mechanicals.  Anyone have suggestions?

@71ChallRT , I am assuming that you have the distributor out of the engine allowing you to spin it, right?  When doing this, are you running a temporary ground strap to the distributor body?  For a points style ignition, the distributor has to be grounded to the engine block.  No sure if this is required for electronic ignition, at least for Mopar electronic ignition, because in that system I believe that the grounding of the coil is provided by the ECU.

[MoparLeo]

No spark does give us many details. What type of ignition ?
Think of the coil as the power supply and the distributor as the switch.  Like power to a lamp. You need a switch to turn it on after you plug it in.
A picture would be great. And read this.

http://www.fourforty.com/techstuff/ignition.html
https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/file?uri=urn:aaid:sc:US:636dd57c-823b-48be-8d47-d7eb866a4076#

[71ChallRT]

I think grounding the housing is what I need to do.  Yes, it's a stock points ignition since the car is an original 383 4speed N96 Shaker car and an OEM restoration I'm doing myself.  The distributor was set up and curved by Advanced Distributor.  When I get a chance to try it, I'll let you know, but I'm pretty sure that was my problem.  Thanks for the reply.

Dan

[MoparLeo]

There is no "ground" for the distributor. The housing is "grounded" to the block when it is installed.
http://www.moparts.org/Tech/Archive/motor/22.html
http://type2.com/library/electrip/pctr.htm
https://documents.holley.com/mallory_instructions_points_distributor_test_procedure_0008.pdf

[DeathProofCuda]

There is no "ground" for the distributor. The housing is "grounded" to the block when it is installed.
http://www.moparts.org/Tech/Archive/motor/22.html
http://type2.com/library/electrip/pctr.htm
https://documents.holley.com/mallory_instructions_points_distributor_test_procedure_0008.pdf

That's correct, but if you have the distributor removed from the block so that you can spin the shaft and check for spark prior to an initial start, then you need to run a temporary ground between the distributor housing and block in order to provide that ground circuit.

[MoparLeo]

True. Please read the links I have posted on distributor troubleshooting. All of these things are addressed. The ignition system using points is a simple, basic system.