Can 1/2 a coil go bad?

1978KZ wrote:

Here is the strange thing: I grounded the plug on the block and no fire, lifted it away (1/8") and they all would fire.

That's bizarre. It should not do that. have you tried replacing the plugs?

30 year old plug wires may be deteriorated and leaking voltage. Z1E has a plug wire splicer to enable using same old coils with new Dyna plug wires. I prefer the Dyna solid wire core plug wires.

Should also assure having correct plug gap.

And as already suggested, would install four brand new plugs (NGKB8ES).

Good Luck!