Has spark, will not start

So if you used starter fluid and it did not fire then we need to assume you are not getting spark. You said in the header that it has spark. How did you confirm that it has spark?

You need three things to start an engine. Compression, fuel, and ignition at the correct time.

If adding fuel (starter fluid) does not cause it to fire, then we can assume it has fuel. Pull a spark plug and hold it against the block with it connected to the wire and see if you have spark. If you do then we can assume you have compression since it was running. That means we need to see if it has spark at the correct time.

Here is a system description for the ignition that will help get us on the same page of how this works. Let me know how you testing for spark and we can go from there. Thanks

KaseKenny1,

Thanks for the reply. My brother checked the battery and the spark plugs as you suggested yesterday. Said it had good spark. Checked distributor cap, good too. I'll show him what you sent and see if it starts, or I'll be back with more questions!

Testing was done as you described. He said the spark was yellow, not blue. He is going to take fuel line off, crank it over to check that and he said might be ignition coil.
Any other suggestions?

If you have weak spark it will not be a strong blue spark and this can cause a no start.

This could be the coil but if you are not getting the strong spark the most likely cause of weak spark is the igniter. This is the component that interrupts the primary spark to create the high voltage for the secondary spark (the bright blue spark). If he is going to replace the coil, he is right there to replace the igniter at the same time.