I had similar problem on my 86 VW Golf.  When damp out in the morning,
hard to start.  leave the hood open for the rising sun to shine on and
it would start.  Replaced everything i could think of (cap and rotor,
distributor, hall sensor, plugs, wires, etc...).
Finally I found if i removed and reattached the wires to the coil it
would usually start right up.  Finally fixed the problem permanently by
cleaning all the engine bay ground connections i could find.  My new
rule is whenever I have intermittent or weird problems it is probably
caused by poor ground somewhere.

eric.henning@bailey.com

> soaking rains have hit the bay area and, like last year, suddenly have
> starting problems with otherwise wonderfully-running '82 vanagon. new
> battery cranks like crazy but it takes awhile, sometimes many efforts
and
> many minutes, before engine fires. there is no visible moisture in the
> engine compartment.  the situation suggests that either moist air or
> condensation is breaking a circuit or shorting-out something but,
again,
> nothing visible.  after the rain has stopped and the air has
dried-out,  the
> problem goes away.  any thoughts on where the gremlin is hiding in
this
> situation?  thanks and cheers, art '82 vanagon
>