Bee Utey Wins the Prize Again!
The first attempt to get sparks accross from the coil HT lead to the exposed rotor was inconclusive then I remembered what an old auto elect told me: "If you are looking for sparks, do it in the dark!"
I repeated the test with the garage door down & the lights out & sure enough there was a thin stream of orange sparks from the end of the lead to the centre of the rotor. Ergo a leak to earth= a misfire. It wasn't a huge loss but probably enough to cause idling problems & misfiring under load.
It's Sunday arvo so I'll try a new rotor next week.