A Trick from the past

B

Bob A.

Senior Member
"Model T buzz coil"
This buzz coil was passed down to me from my Dad about 45 years ago. He and his brothers (my uncles) had a repair shop in the mid '30's.
I carried this coil in every car I owned. (except modern computerized ignition cars) You will find this in my '31 coupe trunk.
If you get stuck on the road for ignition problems,you simply unplug your distributor coil wire plug the buzz coil wire in and hook up the positive and negative wires to a source of power/ground hit the starter or jump it and away you go.. It by passes everything in your ignition. Your key switch could be off, your points and condenser are not used and all related wires. All that is used is the rotor and cap. You must disconnect it to stop the engine from running.
I also used it when I worked for the New York City Transit Authority when I was on the road truck doing quick repairs in the the streets of Brooklyn and Queens.
This also worked with 12 volts for emergencies and short runs.
If you switch the polarity, each time that you hook it up,you will eliminate the wear on the points. The transfer of metal from one point to the other is switched each time that you switch polarity.
On the dark side it could be used to steal cars:mad:
My advice is to make one up,it is a handy item. :)
 
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What a brillant idea! I have a ton of T coils kickin' around. I think I'll make one up just for fun or emergencies. A couple of years ago I saw a forty year old garden tractor that an older gentleman had kept running somehow with a Model T coil. I never thought of applying the same idea to an auto!
 
Bob A. said:
"Model T buzz coil"
This buzz coil was passed down to me from my Dad about 45 years ago. He and his brothers (my uncles) had a repair shop in the mid '30's.
I carried this coil in every car I owned. (except modern computerized ignition cars) You will find this in my '31 coupe trunk.
If you get stuck on the road for ignition problems,you simply unplug your distributor coil wire plug the buzz coil wire in and hook up the positive and negative wires to a source of power/ground hit the starter or jump it and away you go.. It by passes everything in your ignition. Your key switch could be off, your points and condenser are not used and all related wires. All that is used is the rotor and cap. You must disconnect it to stop the engine from running.
I also used it when I worked for the New York City Transit Authority when I was on the road truck doing quick repairs in the the streets of Brooklyn and Queens.
This also worked with 12 volts for emergencies and short runs.
If you switch the polarity, each time that you hook it up,you will eliminate the wear on the points. The transfer of metal from one point to the other is switched each time that you switch polarity.
On the dark side it could be used to steal cars:mad:
My advice is to make one up,it is a handy item. :)
Click to expand...
I dont think I understand. How do you get past ignition timing? The coil would fire all the time and the plugs would fire all the time also. How would one hold off the spark until the right time without use of points. I guess I am just dumb
 
Just remember Paul it's for emergencies. The car will run on basic timing. (Retarded).You'll have no control over the timing lever in respect to advancement.
The garden tractor timing is built in by the position of the fly wheel on the crank shaft that is held in place by the key-way(a fixed timing).This is the way most small engine are.
 
bdotson said:
I dont think I understand. How do you get past ignition timing? The coil would fire all the time and the plugs would fire all the time also. How would one hold off the spark until the right time without use of points. I guess I am just dumb
Click to expand...

The rotor controls where the spark goes and just like always the plugs fire in timing sequence.
 
Jim Parker Toronto said:
Great idea but, why not just carry the spares you need to fix your problem, unless you have a bunch of T buzz boxes laying around.
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I do Jim, but it's much easier at night and much faster to do.This way I can make the repair at home or a convenient area nice and comfortable.
 
bdotson said:
I dont think I understand. How do you get past ignition timing? The coil would fire all the time and the plugs would fire all the time also. How would one hold off the spark until the right time without use of points. I guess I am just dumb
Click to expand...

Bob A. said:
The rotor controls where the spark goes and just like always the plugs fire in timing sequence.
Click to expand...

What might be confusing to some is that your diagram does not include the rotor and cap, but shows a plug connected directly to the Model T coil. Or maybe I'm confused - what is the "timer" in your diagram?
 
Randy, that picture is only for reference. Some guys never heard of a buzz coil. I believe the diagram is for a Model T Ford.
In the picture the wire that goes to the "timer" would be one of the wires you hook up to the battery. The wire that goes to the spark plug would be put in the model A distributor cap.
"What is a timer?" The timer would be like a distributor for a model T, A mechanical driven switch which delivers battery current to the coils. I'm posting a picture of a modern timer for a Model T. The T needed the timer because it had four coils in a box.
Now I guess I confused everyone
 
Sorry I screwd up on the picture post.
Here is a modern day timer for a Model T Ford
 
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In MY opnion this will not work as drawn. There is no way to control timing on a stock model A with out points. This means one if not two of your plugs will be buzzing all the time, if fuel air mixture is being drawn into a cylinder with a buzzing plug it will light not combust because the intake valve is open lighting the fuel charge in the intake as well as the carb. This is not a good set up with out a way to control the timing. A single cyl engine would have the plug running all the time. be very careful you are building a bomb with this as it is drawn. Just dont want to see someone loose a car!!!!!!!!!!!
 
bdotson said:
In MY opnion this will not work as drawn. There is no way to control timing on a stock model A with out points. This means one if not two of your plugs will be buzzing all the time, if fuel air mixture is being drawn into a cylinder with a buzzing plug it will light not combust because the intake valve is open lighting the fuel charge in the intake as well as the carb. This is not a good set up with out a way to control the timing. A single cyl engine would have the plug running all the time. be very careful you are building a bomb with this as it is drawn. Just dont want to see someone loose a car!!!!!!!!!!!
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i believe what bob is saying is the spark will only go to the plug where the rotor is pointing even though the coil is constantly buzzing. the only concern i can see if the coil is constantly buzzing out spark when the rotor is in between two distributor cap contacts that the spark will jump back to the previous one or intermix say. almost like a vehicle with a bad cap and carbon tracks inside. i dont think its a bomb wouldnt that be like a modern car with a bad cap crossfiring.
 
bdotson said:
This means one if not two of your plugs will be buzzing all the time, be very careful you are building a bomb with this as it is drawn. Just dont want to see someone loose a car!!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Whoa, read what the cop in the picture is sayin'!
How would 2 plugs spark at the same time? The rotor position will determine which plug is fired, and unless you make a custom double ended rotor, the rotor can't be two places at once.
I think it is a good tip, Model T coils are easy to come by.
 
Mitch//pa said:
the only concern i can see if the coil is constantly buzzing out spark when the rotor is in between two distributor cap contacts that the spark will jump back to the previous one or intermix say. .
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It won't matter if it sparks back to the previous one because the combustion charge has already been fired off, if anything it will help to ensure a complete burn, like the theory on the MSD units sold by the millions for the more modern engines.
 
modeleh said:
It won't matter if it sparks back to the previous one because the combustion charge has already been fired off, if anything it will help to ensure a complete burn, like the theory on the MSD units sold by the millions for the more modern engines.
Click to expand...

yes i agree and even though the rotor is always hot i cant see it being a problem on these cars of spark jumping around inside the cap. were not talking hei or c.o.p type voltage
 
the wire that is from the coil that is marked timer, goes to the points in the distributor. the points are the timer
 
Brendan said:
the wire that is from the coil that is marked timer, goes to the points in the distributor. the points are the timer
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No I think the earler post says the points are by passed. If you did use the points they would act as a timer and it would run for sure as long as your points would work. Now all you have done is replaced your coil with the wrong coil? what is the point?
 
I understand the process, but is there any way we can see it all hooked up
in your car Bob A.?

Since were talking tricks and T coils can I ask about a little rumor I heard years ago?
A guy I worked with talked about wireing a live T-coil to the body of a car (any car) to
shock whoever touched the car and act as a theft deturent or just a practical joke.
Not knowing too much about T's at the time I thought that sounded cool but asked no
further questions. Have you guys heard of this before?

BTW The next T buzz box I see I'm gonna whip on of these up. Thanks again Bob A.

Jeff
 
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