done it donkeys years back, as far as i remember you remove the HT lead, put an old spark plug in the end of it and move the lead near the metal chassis and fire away to see if you get spark if im right?

 

basically yes but take out the spark plug in the engine as it could be the spark plug at fault, also i unplug the injectors while doing it too

 

Get a mate to crank it and you stick your finger in the end and if its working you get a tickle.......... lol

 

once fixing a friends mk2 and he cranked it while I was holding the the central lead, got thrown across garage! he thought it was fun I didn't.

be careful when doing this! put a sparkplug in the connector at end like normal and hold it against the block. wear marigolds too if you are not sure you will feel it but it does help a lot if wearing rubber gloves and make a mistake!

disconnecting injectors is a good idea as you don't need atomised petrol around sparks!