Best coil location

Tom's36coupe

Tom's36coupe

Well-known member
I want to move my coil closer to the distributor, anybody make a bracket that could bolt to one of the head studs? Mine is hiding in the front wheel area now but I think it might be too far away, coil wire is about 25 inches long. Pictures of your setup would be much appreciated!:)
 
Tom's36coupe said:
I want to move my coil closer to the distributor, anybody make a bracket that could bolt to one of the head studs? Mine is hiding in the front wheel area now but I think it might be too far away, coil wire is about 25 inches long. Pictures of your setup would be much appreciated!:)
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Can you secure it from a bracket bolted to your intake? Post a close up photo of your engine if possible.
 
I think I have a stock 59ab coil mounting bracket that bolts to the left side of the intake manifold, if you're interested.
 
Mounting the coil on the engine will soak the coil with heat and that drops the coil output. My experience is to mount the coil in a cool place. Length of the wires between the coil and distributor should not be a problem if you are using cooper wires.

Bill Oh
 
I mounted mine on the firewall, upside down, next to my voltage regulator. The wire is about 30" long, and I've had no problems.

The wire is routed through the loom tube that the plug wires run through. Neat and tidy.
 
Not sure about the plug wires, got em from the old Hot Rod & Custom supply, they are the old style 7mm braided look with rahah clips. Just figured the coil wire should be up close for better spark?
 
Here are my plug wires, don't have a picture of the coil, but its mounted inside to the left of the motor, just in from my horns.
 

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Was just looking at a Flathead supplier(thehotrodcompany.com) who has the wires like mine, 7mm copper wire, they state: not for use with electronic systems. My distributor is a Mallory electronic MBI unit. Looks like I am running the wrong plug wires, also my electronic Mallory coil states not to use with a ballast resistor. Man, its a wonder my motor even works! Now I am really confused.....:(
 
Tom's36coupe said:
Was just looking at a Flathead supplier(thehotrodcompany.com) who has the wires like mine, 7mm copper wire, they state: not for use with electronic systems. My distributor is a Mallory electronic MBI unit. Looks like I am running the wrong plug wires, also my electronic Mallory coil states not to use with a ballast resistor. Man, its a wonder my motor even works! Now I am really confused.....:(
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I know my 8BA engine distributer/coil set up is different from yours, but could you make a coil bracket that mounts of one of the water pump bolts like the one shown. The alum bracket bolts to the water pump and the coil bracket bolts to the top of the alum bracket. My distributor is a 12V Mallory electronic and I still use a ballast resistor. I don't understand why you would not still need one also. My ears are open" to all answers.
 

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I am going to send a message for Jim at Bubbas about the ballast resistor. I have tried in the past to contact Mallory and they were not much help. I know the resistor is used to knock the juice down to the coil/distributor, don't want to burn up my module! Thanks for the ideas on coil location too.
 
Tom,

You may be worrying about somethating that isnt hurting a thing.
Coil wire length ( as long as its good cable etc) can be quite long and not cause a problem.
Many manufactures allow 7,000 to 10,000 ohms resistance in secondary cable with no ill effects.
Good cable, good boots maybe use a little dielectric grease on both connections and run it as is. Neat thing about igntions is the engine will take only what it needs and usually has plenty left over ......

Now in regards to the ballast resistor . A ballast is needed to drop voltage when using contact points as well as a resitor coil ( lets say 1.5 ohms in each) voltage and current is dropped to allow the contacts to have a good usefull life.
When electronic controls are used you may or may not still need a ressitor etc.
Depends on the maker of the control as to how much current the module can stand. More amps rating usually means more dollars for the part.
A GM HEI for example uses a .5 ( 1/2 ohm) resistor coil and NO balast ressitor, the controler ( module ) has a current limiting circuit in it and allows 5.5 amps to flow thru the circuit.
The aftermarket is all over the place with this. If the mallory says dont use a ballast then they are saying the limits in the controller or the resistance in the coil will handle the current.
Problem usually is when the wrong coil is used.........
 
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Looks like I have copper core wires, a bad thing. Thanks to Bubbas as always to put things in easy to understand lingo. My ballast resistor cuts the volts from 12 to about 6, so thats all the juice that is going to the coil. If I had a full 12v sounds like some would be wasted but maybe I would have a little hotter spark. Now if the Mallory module can take it is another story, do have a spare in the glove box though! Might be worth a test to see how it does this weekend....
 
Just another note on the use of a ballast resistor. I talked to Bubba and he said that if you have a dual point distributor as I do (12 volt system with Mallory dual point dist.) then you do not need the ballast resistor if your coil tests (resistance across the coil) at 3 ohms or more. Mine tests at 6+ ohms so I guess I don't need the ballast resistor. By the way, my coil reads "no external resistor needed".
 
Here's where I located my coil - I used a C---y chrome mount I found at a swap meet and placed a threaded stud then a nut for the intake bolt, leaving enough for the tong off the chrome distributor holder to slide onto with a second nut to hold it in place ....

This is somewhat of a tough location for your front water outlet heads but you might be able to move it back a bolt ot 2 to make it work.
 

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Thanks TomT, actually my motor is a 59ab so the coil should fit just like yours. Looks like a good spot for it, now I just have to come up with a bracket.
 
Does anyone have pictures showing how they mounted duel coils for an H-C distributor on a 59ab engine that has center outlet heads? I'm also looking for a wiring diagram that would show duel condenser, duel coil wire-up and plug wire routing. Sorry if I am hijacking the original theme of this post but reading all of this has got me thinking how the heck my H-C wires up. Distributor did not come with any wire-up instructions. Thanks in advance for any help.
 
I need to jump in here, point is ( HEAT WILL KILL YOUR COIL ) Lets look at what Henry did, 32 to 40 coil out in front in the air stream, 42to 48 coil on a 5 inch tall stand "again in the air", somewhat OFF the engine. with the ballast resistor too,
The question is "Where to mount the coil" somewhere clean dry and cool ?? and the least vibration the better, not an easy answer.?? I am not saying put it in the back seat, I like the firewall or the fender wall, I wanted it close to the disc. looks like it should be, We all like the way our flathead dresses up, and I do like all your engines houses too. I chrome and polish too, I'am still looking ???...OLD...BILL
 
Bill OH: :confused:I mint to quote you in my just done tread, as spot on about the engine heat "socking" the coil down and with less output :o...OLD....BILL:cool:
 
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