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Jan 27, 2006 14:09:02 GMT
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Two ignition coil questions. 1/ Do these Lucas 'sport' coils really make any difference? Got to replace old coil on mates '58 Austin A35 at weekend, difference in price to 'standard coil' was only £2.30p so I though "what the heck, buy the sport coil". No probs as such Just curious as to if the 'Sport' variant is better/more durable (Lucas number DLB 105)? 2/ In the mid 70's British Leyland had 'Ballasted resistor' Coils fitted to a lot of their cars (different coil part number). Why was this? Someone said it aided starting ... ...I've found no difference with my experiance with loads of Leyland bangers of the 70's ;D. Again just curious Thanks
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Jan 27, 2006 14:19:05 GMT
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The ballast risitor is there to drop the voltage across the points & condensor (and sometimes other parts of the electic system) while still allowing 12V to the starter and the other parts of the electirc system. If you run without a ballast and your car was designed to take one you'll burn out the points and even arc out the distributor cap in no time.
IMO just bumping up the coil voltage/capacitance without upgrading the rest of the ignition system isn't going to make a whole lot of difference. Replacing a dud coil with a hi-po one will make a big difference, but only because you're going back to stock level from a reduced level of performance.
I'd say it was worth buying if you plan on other upgrades. Plus they look a little nicer than some OE style replacement coils... Certainly won't harm anything to use one rather than a stock one. Some sttock replacement parts aren;t as good as stock anyway.
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Jan 27, 2006 14:41:19 GMT
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Yes I must admit the points/ condensor do last longer on the '77 mgb with ballast resistor set than on '69 Mini with standard set up. Posted by alistairk on Today at 9:19 I did wounder that and as said difference in price was negligable so on it will go! Thanks for that.
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Jan 27, 2006 14:49:09 GMT
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dot really know on the fiesta i think it uses a 345 (bosch coil) and i put a 349 coil on off the old volvo.....didnt notice a slight of difference
used a lucas coil i picked up for 50p for a while but it was heating up ALOT
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once again rocking with 1117cc and 4 gears!
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When I ballsed up the waterpump change on my metro big time (ALWAYS disconnect the battery, a simple rule I stupidly forgot ) and dropped the alternator in such a way it shorted and spotwelded itself to the engine ;D so that I had to run and get the right size spanner to disconnect the battery I had to rewire most the engine bay. I managed to destroy about 20% of the resistive wire the rover for some bizzare reason used instead of a ballast resistor. Not something easily obtainable. Put it back together with the wire shorter. 2 weeks later dead coil Found a bosch one with a slightly higher resistance than standard, and away I went Bodgetastic!
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Jan 29, 2006 10:29:38 GMT
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when i upgraded the coil and other ignition parts on my old type 4, the manufacturers of the new coil (a pertronix flamethrower 2) recomended removal of the ballast resistor, if fitted. don't really know why, but it didnt have one anyway.
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Jan 29, 2006 11:26:02 GMT
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As what Alistair says, the ballast resistor is something that is there to alter the voltage to the coil when starting. It makes sure you get a very good spark even when cranking when the overall voltage drops.
Maybe upgraded coils make more of a difference on different engines but I noticed a big difference when using a high power coil. The spark was much more powerful and I could use a bigger spark plug gap. This definitely made a difference at high revs, 6K and up. Like I said, it might just be the engine because my crossflow is heavily worked and will rev past 7K with no trouble.
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Thanks for all info people. Did job, A35 runs fine again, no difference with sport coil but price as said was negligable so happy. Balasted coils side of question was just curiosity, having to change coil on the 50's Austin (which is NOT ballast resisted) reminded me of 'ignition coils in general' so I though I'm going to ask people in the know . Cheers.
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Johny I suspect it made a difference because the stock coil was not up to the job if your motor is warmed up. Thats what they are there for really. I get feddup with these ads in mags and the net where people are selling either high output coils or low resistance HT leads and claiming like 15BHP increase and better throttle response and 10% improvement in MPG, just by fitting their wonder leads/coil/etc. (with the implication this will be what happens on a stock motor!) so I generally have a downer on any claims made for a single product. Its all about using complimentary products on an engine to get the best out of everything.
The reason they say to remove the balast resistor with the Pertronix coil is they assume you will be using it with thier Ignitor electronic ignition unit which does not require a balast.
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Oooh it's okay, I didn't for one second think any of that would happen.
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Jan 30, 2006 11:07:43 GMT
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Hmm, ballast resistors....if its blown does it mean a non start or a very iffy start !?
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Jan 30, 2006 12:09:48 GMT
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that or burnt out point in no time.
TwincamGTi - I wasn't suggesting that you did, I was just "venting"...
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Jan 30, 2006 12:30:12 GMT
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I know what you mean, the amount of so-called performance products on ebay is unbelieveable such as the 'performance resistor' ...and people buy IT!
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Last Edit: Jan 30, 2006 12:30:50 GMT by TwincamGTi
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