That has a two piece ignition system, isolate the engine by disconnecting the safety circuit. If you don't have spark the trigger has likely failed and as you say they are long obsolete. I hated those pos, won't go near them.

 

So unplug the motor from the wiring harness at the 3 wire connector?

 

The 'protection resistor' is in line between the "M" terminal on the ignition switch and the wire leading to the solid state ignition.
If you disconnect the large ignition switch terminal block from the switch, then there should be no path to ground to kill the spark. The spark is kilt when the two terminals "M" and "G" are connected within the ignition switch (OFF position).
If you were to jumper the starter relay terminal to battery "+", then the relay would engage the starter, spin the crankshaft & flywheel, and should generate a spark. If it did, the engine would run without any particular way to shut it off unless you took the precaution to remove the spark plug and wire while checking for spark.
Perhaps the wire on the "M" terminal has chafed insulation, or is grounded somewhere due to age/cracked insulation/mice/flying saucers... and that would stop the spark. You may want to inspect that wire closely. The protection resistor is to prevent a large current flow when the key is turned to OFF, as the wire will then get connected to ground, and 'back EMF' from a circuit opening on a relay or transformer can be generated and damage things. Many use a diode instead.
tom

 

I tried what you said without any luck. I went ahead and pulled the flywheel shroud, It looks like at some point in the past one of the trigger magnets started to come loose from the flywheel. Someone has clearly hammered it back in. The trigger on the ignition coil appears to have been struck by the magnet when it started to work it's way out. I have no way of knowing if it ever ran after they hammered the magnet back in, but I have my doubts.

 

I tested the wire that runs from the stator to the igniton coil and it shows no continuity between that lead and the block. I belive it should show 137 ohms. It's starting to look like a motor swap might be the easiest fix.

 

I just watched a repair on a HH100 on YT. The poster/video creator installed a GM HEI ignition module, a DC coil, and a Ford truck ABS (road speed) sensor. Wired it all together, and had an electronic ignition that worked. The flywheel had two posts, the taller of which was used to trigger the road speed sensor, and that output was fed into one end of the HEI. The other lead to the coil, and the battery.
I have used a GM HEI to replace the 'trigger' on a Ford Probe GT in the past, and it worked fine.
If you really want to make the 160 keep chugging, take a look at the video.

Title Tecumseh HH100 High Energy Ignition upgrade

tom

 

That would be an option if the charging part of the stator is still working. I'm just hesitant to put much money into a motor I've never heard run.

 

A temporary setup could be made using coat hanger wire... and an auto battery to supply the juice. I guess not for the faint of heart. A GM module used to be ~$10 and a coil can be borrowed or scrounged from a boneyard. The ABS pickup could also be a u-pull part. The complete setup shown in the video need not be done as a test, but only if things worked out.
As far as the engine running, a few things that would indicate would be the condition of the bore, the piston, the valves, the crankshaft main bearings and the connecting rod bearing. Some/all can be checked by a bit of disassembly. Only thing needed would be a head gasket, maybe a pan gasket. More or less, but it seems to always be more...
tom

 

So on the 3 prong motor harness connector the center one has continuity to the wire that runs to the solid state module/coil, I think thats the kill wire so that should be right. The two outside terminals have continuity to each other, but neither has any continuity to ground. That sound right? Once I get the SS18 I'm currently woking on done I'll start to dig into this 16/6 and pull the flywheel off.