Interesting old coil

[28ACoupe]

I found this coil in a box of parts I picked up with my replacement front axle. I have never seen one like this and thought I would share:

 

[H. L. Chauvin]

Probably American Made, & like the old ones I have, & it probably could still work well.

Model A owners years ago used to place a Gerber's Baby Food Can, (before glass baby food jars), on top of their coils in humid climates to prevent the coil top from rusting out where the center hood joint leaks dew & rain -- coils lasted indefinitely back then prior to today's engineered planned obsolescence.

 

[Hudsn47]

I'm familiar with one like this, was off a 37 Packard. It had a steel sheath holding the hot wire from the ignition that connected to the back of the coil. There was a plate that attached to the back of the coil that was secured by the steel tabs. This reminded me of the anti tamper distributor lead on Model A ignitions.

 

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Looks like an early 30's Chrysler coil. These actually mounted thru the firewall but with just a wire. Several manufacturers in the day had them made to their specifications.

 

[George Miller]

Early chev's had a coil like that. There was a armored cover over the wire and a cap on the end that fit on the coil.

 

[Mills River Barn]

Yes, George is correct. I had a 1935 chevy with the same coil as pictured. It was described as one of the earlier anti theft devices. The armored cable was connected to the ignition switch which supplied the 6 volts to the coil. The 6v wire entered the top of the coil and there was a metal cap that would snap over the top. the only way you could remove the top was to slide a thin piece of metal between the cap and body of the coil and you had to know where the release snap was located.
Some of the old Motor Manuals showed you how to remove the coil cap. I'm sure this was used on a variety of vehicles from that era.