Distributor refresh gone wrong

wayne r said
1. Reinstall old points and condenser(as previously recommended) if you didn't discard them.If it runs just get a quality new set. See 2 and 3 if this doesn't work.
2. Go to Harbor Freight and use one of their coupons for a free digital multimeter with any purchase(they frequently advertise this).
3. Test your ballast resistor and coil with the multimeter. Your research should tell you how.

If you have a few bucks extra buy a spare ballast resistor, points, condenser and keep them in the glove compartment.

I'll be putting it all back to how it originally was tonight. Are there better quality points and condensers out there on the market so this would be less of a concern? I have 3 or 4 sets of points but what's the reasoning behind keeping a spare that may or may not work in the glovebox? I'd rather pay a little more and get quality points the first time..