I'm a little late to insert on this thread, but I was out of town for
a week. I'm hoping someone can clear this up for me, the more I
research
this "mod", the more confusing it gets.
In some literature, I read "MUST USE A RESISTOR" (and this statement is
repeated in several catalogues and installations). But then I see that
most 40k volt coils do not come with a ballast restistor, and as a
further
note I read an article in the VTR Maintenance archive on <bold>Ballast
vs. Non-
Ballast coil</bold><italic> </italic>that says <italic>"...they neglect
to bypass the ballast resistor,
used on some of the later models. Failure to do this will negate the
benefit
of using the hotter coil, as the Sport coil is designed to be used
without
a ballast resistor." </italic>And the article basically goes on to
explain why the
ballast resistor or resistor wire should be bypassed, and spark plug gap
increased to create a hotter spark.
I actually bought two 40k volt chrome coils (one for my point distributor
ford,
for appearance sake) and one to use on the stock Spitfire distributor.
Right now, neither my '76 Ford 302 or my '76 Spitfire have a ballast
resistor. Both have stock 20-23k volt coils which appear to be
NON-resistive.
(due to the 2.2 +/- ohm impedence between terminals). And both were
wired
by (D?)PO's. Both have hot leads going directly from the ignition (a
white wire
on the spitfire) to the coil (neg) and from the coil to the distributor.
And they
appear to opperate without problems. But I should have some sort of
resistive
device even on the 20k volt coil, correct?
This is just confusing the heck out of me.
I don't want to melt my new Chrome coils or the wires that lead to them.
But I'd really like to get the best performance from them on my
non-electronic
ignition systems.
By spring, I plan on installing a Crane/Allison electronic ignition in
the spit,
but the 40 to 70k volt coils say "DO NOT USE WITH ELECTRONIC IGNITION!".
Do
I have to ditch the chrome 40k volt coil when I switch to Electronic
ignition
or does the addition of a resistive element make the hotter coil
usable?
Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated.
Terry L. Thompson
'76 Spitfire
'50 Ford F5 stakebody (perfect for carting around Spitfires, if I can
ever get
a bed on the back of the hulking beast).
Maryland
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