fuel filter or coil?

[deacon bruce]

Am running a cpcl (bodgered Silver Century) on my "Barge" (see previous posts!_). Yesterday it slowed and stopped almost like it had run out of fuel- you know like when you forget to open the breather on top of the fuel tank refill. Wouldn't restart. Until we rowed back to dock, retrailered boat, etc! Looked at inline fuel filter and saw some flecks of black something on the upstream side of filter, but not too much. Changing nothing from when we were on water, started right up. Can fuel starvation symptoms mimic failing coil symptoms? Will change filter anyway. Using external filter because there is no other filter in system. Might it be wise to also change coil for new one?

By the way, is there any preferable kind of inline filter: gauze/screen like in small Briggs and Stratton nawn mover engines, or paper filter kind?