[Healeys] Bringing it back to life, little spark, maybe coil

[Bob Spidell]

   Seems  to  me  a  lot of people want to blame the coil first when it's
   likely  to  be the last thing that fails in the ignition system (maybe
   because it's easy to replace).  Unless the coil is cracked, leaking or
   getting  extremely hot--probably due to excessive dwell--it's probably
   not  the problem.   A coil is nothing but some wire windings around an
   iron  core with some insulation--possibly PCB--and has no moving parts
   (somebody'll  correct  me  if I've gotten this wrong).  My 42-year-old
   BJ8's  stock  Lucas  coil  with  Pertronix ignition will throw a spark
   almost an inch in open air.
   I'd check points, rotor, cap, and cables first.  You said the spark to
   #3  was  weak, if I recall; have you checked the impedance on all your
   wires?   Aftermarket  (non-Lucas) caps haven't worked well for me, and
   if you have points that's the next (maybe the first) thing I'd check.
   But, sounds like you really want a new coil ;)
   bs
   Patton Dickson wrote:

Not a strong one, I going to replace, I don't need to rely on a 52
year old coil anyhow.

Is there a good over the counter coil that has the screw in HT lead?
I don't know of a parts counter in Dallas that would have a direct
Lucas replacement.

Patton

On Wed, Oct 29, 2008 at 8:29 PM, Mark LaPierre <lapierrem at sbcglobal.net> wrote:

Do you get spark from the tower of the coil?
Silicon is a dandy insulator.  That could
be one of your problems too.
Mark

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Bob Spidell           San Jose, CA            bspidell at comcast.net
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