Vintage Dirt Bike Q & A

OK - so I just rescued this old MR175 from the dump. I'm not kidding - someone had thrown it away. Now I want to make it run. I cleaned the carb and put fresh gas in it and it started right up. Seems like it idles fine - but when I try to ride it, it won't rev past 5K or so. It's really weak and sounds like it's running rich. Breaks up and eventually gets slower and slower and just bogs and dies. I've requested carb specs in another thread so we'll see if maybe somebody's monkeyed around with the jetting a little too much.

Another possible cause of the problem is the ignition. The spark is very weak or maybe even non-existant after the machine dies. (I say maybe because at the time I didn't have all my tools with me - no spark tester or jumper cables - and it's hard to kick and hold the plug at the same time so may not have been grounded) I called the local Honda shop and Ms. Parts Girl said the condensor is unavailable and the coil costs almost $70. Points are expensive too but I've always had good luck with a small file and some contact cleaner so I'm not worried about the points. Speaking of points... I WILL get to the point of this post eventually!

Here's the question: since the MR175 coil is big $$$ and non-returnable, and since the condensor is unobtainable, can I rob a coil and condensor off my 350-F parts bike and expect it to work? If not the 350-F then how about a 1957 MGA? Just trying to work with what's going to be available this weekend when I might get a chance to work on this bike...

Thanks for any insight you all can provide.