Does it run the same w/ the point box cover off? That cover loose and dancing around can't be a good thing...

Oh yes. It does this with the cover on or off. taking it apart i just noticed that the mount for the ignition coil is movable side to side unlike typical current motors.

That's for the timing. How about a glowing carbon buildup under the head causing a second spark source? Did you remove the head?

i opened it before running and after recoding the video. i cleaned it before i ran it and after there is very little.

It's actually simple to properly post the link so everyone can just click on it. Look under the big message field for the 'Optional Link URL' field and drop it there.

Here is a link that might be useful: video

Problem solved... turns out the coil is on backwards but somehow it ran....
Also, when i found this motor, it ran fine occassionally. Replacing the coil eliminated random days with no spark.
It all comes down to how did it run when the coil was on backwards?

Thanks !

Maybe it was running backwards? :)

some tuning later and here is the final product:

Here is a link that might be useful: briggs