Awesome... just awesome. I love a new perspective on ignition systems!
Yeah, those are your coils (twinkie things), and the tape is a botch job to install newer wires. The plug wires on these coils are integrated, so you can't just swap them out. Instead, you have to replace the entire coil assembly. Some owners cut off the wires with a small section left to splice into a fresh wire using an engineered splicing unit. Some (like me) just slice the coil open, splice in a new wire, and then fill the hole with high temp epoxy. Your PO apparently took a different route. Not necessarily a non-functioning route, but it doesn't sound like a long term solution to me.
Camelman