Well... fine, then.

Thought I'd go out and install my new distributor today. So I pull the old Presto, drop in the new Delco, carefully transfer the plug wires from cap to cap, hook up my dwell meter, crank it and set the dwell. Then I turn the ignition on, crank it and... nothing.

I pull the coil wire, check for spark - got it. I move the distributor around while cranking, get a backfire through the carb. I double-check the plug wires and guess what? They're one off by one hole, clockwise. So I move everything over one hole and try it again. More backfires.

So I think "I must have put the distributor in 180 out." I pull the dist, turn the rotor to the other side, drop it in, crank it and get a BIG backfire through the tailpipe - sounded like a gun going off.

This time, I decide, let's really be SURE where the engine is. I pull #1 plug, put my thumb over it, bump the starter until my thumb gets blown off. Look at the crank pulley; the pointer is dead on the IGN mark. Great; I check the distributor and find that I had it right the first time. Pull, move the rotor back around, drop it in.

So I go to put the spark plug back in and... the insulator is missing. That's right... cracked off in the spark plug socket. Call NAPA - they have ONE Champion H14Y in stock. I'll be down, I say. Sorry, they say - closed in 5 minutes.

Guess it'll wait until tomorrow...sigh.