hows everybody wired in their coils? its on an ancient pinto,just wanting to make sure Ive done it right!

Ballast or non ballast? Points or electronic? For non ballast points system you need a live feed from the ignition switch to the coil positive or terminal 15 and a wire from the negative or terminal 1 to the points

Positive supply from position 2 on the ignition switch to the + terminal on the coil and - of the coil goes to the small points wire on the distributor.
If you are using one of the ford electronic ignition modules the + wire goes to the module ( do not know the wires off the top of me head ).
Some of the engines use a ballast resistor to cut down 12 volts to the coil is in the wire discribbed between the ignition switch and the + on the coil, on position 2, but when the switch is held in position 3 to turn the engine over it by passes this and gives 12 volts for a good spark on start up.
Depends what you are using, points or not. If you need any more help just ask mate,as i have the same engine.
Richard.

thats great thanks, sorry, was in a rush...its a points non electronic system, no ballast.
Thats how ive got it wired in, but theres no spark... got one when i was turning the key off last night.
is it meant to be a large gauge wire to the positive terminal? Im running a 2.5mm wire from the fuses (2nd click) to it.

cheers again!

Check that the points contacts are clean and gapped correctly Bosch distributors use a different gap to Motorcraft which is 0.025" (25 thou) Bosch may be 0.018" If their is a black box on the side of the distributor take it off and also fit an earth wire between the point securing screw and base plate screw , both reduce the voltage drop and should give a better spark. Check the rotor arm for fcracks , they look like a pencil line , check the distributor cap center contact is there, not worn or missing. Check that the coil is getting 12v or thereabouts when cranking and that the HT leads are in good condition

Disconnect the fat cable to starter motor and then check you are getting +12v on coil +ve in both ign positions 2 and 3. If that's OK, then reconnect the starter and check the coil +ve voltage when cranking, it will drop from 12v but should not go below 8-9v.

Replacing the condensor would be my next step.

I've seen the symptoms you describe, only getting a spark when you let the key go and it drops back to pos 2, but only on ballast ignitions when the ballast bypass circuit has broken.

Shaun.

thanks for all the replies! turns out the points were effed, replaced them and got the first spark!