Triple check you have no bare 12v leads for the ignition. Should be purple wires IIRC in the merc harness. I pinched one once and was chewing thru coils till I found the short.

great point,,my friend had that same problem.2 gm new style coils burned up.that was a head scratcher.

I will definitely be checking the harness for a short it sure sounds like a short to me. Thank you for your help. I will let you know what I find

Merc harnesses have more than one switched 12v wire. Spend some time with a ohm meter and test light. I bet you can find your problem.

I found a plug wire that was pinched in the steering back side of the motor. Could that cause a direct short or just a misfire? It had worn through the insulation on the wire!

the coil is trying to fire that plug through the cap and possibly being sent to ground so I can see this being an issue, and yes misfire fo sho

Thank you I've got new distributor coil wires and plugs just scared to death to turn the key and burn something up again! I'll mix up a stiff drink and turn the key!

make sure you get the firing order correct, you dont need to chasing another problem

One at a time

Thank you everyone for the help! The ignition switch was bad. We are back and running ! Thanks again