hard to say. I had a coil that was going out on me once make my car sputter a and run like crap. It idled and reved with no load like a champ, but was soon as you put a load on it it ran like crap.
If you've got an extra 120 bux laying around the electronic ignition is a nice upgrade

That sounds like familiar: idles fine and revs w/ no load like a champ. Guess I should pull the center wire from the distributor cap, hold it 1/4" from a ground, crank and see if I have bright blue or crappy orange.

Can I run a 12v Bosch coil with the Pertronix elecronic ignition or would I have to go with their Flame Thrower coil?

I lied, I actually have a Compufire, but I believe you can use a Bosch coil with a Pertonix unit.

I ran bosch coil with my electronic ignition

you can't run too hot of a coil with those ignition modules, check with the manufacturer before you try. The safe bet is to just run a Bosch "Blue" coil with it. They are strong enough for your application

The Bug didn't want to idle as well today; I had to keep it at 1,000-1,100 rpms just to keep it some what happy.

After warmup, at idle I could hear an occasional spit/sputter from the driver side carb (number 3 and 4). I checked for possible gasket/vacum leaks - but no rise in rpms when I sprayed the brake cleaner near carb/dist., etc.

It would rev OK, but not as crisp. I didn't bother driving it out under load since it would certainly spit/sput.

I checked the coil; ignition issue? The coil put out a fairly weak orange colored spark. According to Mr. Muir that's not a happy ignition output color.

The coil has enough juice to get things going, but perhaps the spark isn't strong or consistent enough; thus lack of spark to ignite the flowing fuel mixture.

I'm considering a blue Bosch listed with "3ohm resisted"; I want a unit that can be used with an electronic ignition upgrade. The other blue Bosch listed online at Appletree said the 12 volt with no internal resistance will not work on a pointless ignition - their words "it will burn up".

Hopefully it's just the coil. They are fairly inexpensive too, so good to have a spare.

Also, make sure the carbs are in sync. I know from my experience, it can be a hair off and run like a turd off idle.

its prob in the carbs...there nothing wrong with the coil...make sure the carbs are in sync and your points are right

kostya had a coil go bad but i think it killed the car...pretty rare they go bad

Yeah, the coil might be a "best" case scenario - probably won't get off that easy. Sure seems like it's either fuel delivery or spark. I'm hoping it's not a hung/stuck valve - I may be off in that thinking.

I do need to pick up a Uni-Syn or equal to make sure the carbs are really running in sync. The drive problems up until now seem less off idle and more starting at 25-30 mph and above. Although it did spit/sput just idling in the garage today.

The points look fine; not sure on the status of the condeser. The coil sure put out a weak, orange spark.