Bill,
The positive lead of the meter goes to the coil negative terminal, or to the wire terminal on the distributor- either connection will do, but the coil connection is a better choice. The negative meter lead goes either to an engine ground or to a battery ground- not to the coil.
There probably is a 'Cal' position on the function selector knob. If so, turn the selector to that position, then before you connect the meter to the engine, connect the meter leads together and adjust the pointer to whatever set or calibration line is marked on the meter scale. That step calibrates the meter circuitry. Usually the set line is a black line at the high end of the scale, and might be marked 'Set' or 'Cal.' There usually is a second knob for the calibration adjustment. Also, there should be a black bar at the high end of the meter scale, and may be identified as 'Distributor Resistance.' When you connect the dwell meter and turn on the ignition switch, with the points closed, the meter pointer should settle in the black bar. That tells you that the primary resistance in the distributor is at an acceptable level (0.2 volts or less) for getting an accruate dwell reading.
After everything is set up, don't forget to set the function selector to the proper cylinder position if the meter has that setting- it probably has- I haven't looked at a Sears dwell meter for quite a while.
Hope this helps.
Harvester
