Is there an easy way to check out a coil (not on the car) for someone that can build a house but not wire it? I have a meter that can be used, it is not digital. Some one said that if I check the continuity between the two terminals that it was good. Right or wrong? Any help would be great. Thanks

There are coil testers that check the coil under load to determine if it is defective or will break down under a load. Unfortnately, not many of these testers are in circulation anymore. I have seen a few on eBay.

Sal
Here in Aus most auto electric shops have a coil tester buried under dust somewhere. It would be worth doing the rounds, the test only take a couple of minutes.
You can test for continuity at home, connect your meter across the low voltage terminals for a reading of less than 5 ohms,then 1 of those terminals and the case looking for no circuit. On most coils connect between high volt terminal and low volt and look for about 4k to 5k ohm, on the others it is high volt and case for a 4k to 5k ohm reading. If you get readings outside of these the coil is suspect.
This test will tell you if it is worth taking to a coil tester but not conclusive.
Tony