[AT] Well, I guess I didn't really want it to be easy

[DAVIESW739 at aol.com]

This is from a the website (About : Auto Repair) I think this will  explain 
how your ignition system works.
Walt
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  The battery is the source of the voltage for the spark we need to  ignite 
the mixture at the proper microsecond in the cylinder. This spark  requires 
thousands of volts to occur, as much as 120,000 volts. Where do we get  these 
thousands of volts? The ignition coil is the source of the high voltage we  need. 
The coil is a simple transformer the steps up battery voltage to the  
thousands of volts the spark plugs need. The coils has two sides, there is the  12 
volt or primary side. This side has a few hundred turns of a large diameter  
wire and builds up the magnetic field in the coils. The other side is the high  
voltage or secondary side. This side has thousands of turns of smaller diameter 
 wire. The coil uses "electromagnetic induction" to create the high voltage. 
When  we turn off the voltage on the primary side, the collapsing magnetic 
field  induces a voltage in the secondary side producing the thousands of volts 
the  spark plugs need. 
In a conventional ignition system, the  switching on and off of the primary 
voltage was done with a set of Breaker  Points. The points were set inside the 
distributor and rode on a cam on the  distributor shaft. This cam would have 
4, 6 or 8 lobes, depending on how many  cylinders the engine had. When the 
points were closed, current flowed into the  primary side of the coil creating the 
magnetic field. When the cam lobe opens  the points, the current is turned 
off and the magnetic field collapses.