Flamethrower coil needed?

Got a 67 Mercury Parklane sent to me because the owner said he couldnt get it to run correct. He installed the Pertronix unit inside the distributer and replaced the coil, wires, cap and rotor. I couldnt believe my eyes. I went to hook up a vacuum gauge and got a little poke when the car was running and my hand was near the distributor. I turned the lights off in thge garage because I thought he may have a bad plug wire. Not only was the plug wires arcing but so was the cap and coil. This thing was lite up like a christmas tree. I am going to have this guy round up some good ignition parts this time. Does the pertonix need the Flamethrower coil or is it any better then a regular coil?

The flamethower coil isnt needed for the pertronix, it should run fine with the stock coil if it is in good condition.

Is the pertronix wired correctly to the coil?