'standard replacement' ignition coils on rockauto

[moran75]

Hi all

 

I'm looking to buy an ignition coil for my 65 and see rock auto has grand total of 7 'standard replacements' ranging from measly £8.47 to a whopping £32.81

 

Is there such a variation in spec to explain diff prices for 'standard replacements' ? Do you really get a better product for £32.81....thought an ignition coil was an ignition coil, if you see what i mean

 

I would check with CARS but their website leave a lot to be desired and i can no longer access catalogue either 😕

 

Thanks in advance

 

Kev

 

 

 

[60FlatTop]

For many years I have been disappointed with the quality of Standard brand electrical components. Echlin brand, sold here by NAPA, has become my brand of choice.

 

Here is a link to the NAPA site.

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/ECHIC277?cid=paidsearch_shopping_dcoe_google&campaign=GSC-Ignition-Electrical-Lighting&campaign_id=10947851940&adgroup_id=107773573419&adtype=pla&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_-ic5OrKgAMVYwizAB1bsQKdEAQYASABEgITtPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&

 

You may be able to find a vendor in your area.

 

 

[NTX5467]

There could well be some quality differences (as in how many might fail per batch built), but I determined back in the earlier 1980s that most of the ignition coil production had been consolidated as to who built them.  I bought a new ACDelco ignitioni coil for a '72 Pontiac Catalina, suspecting the OEM production coil might be causing an issue (which it was not).  When I opened the ACDelco box and removed the new coil, I was surprised that it was a complete satin black item.  NO silkscreened numbers, production date, etc. on it.  The ONLY ID I found on it was discretely on the bottom.  A small elliptical gold sticker near a light stamping, both of which had the same "5 letter word" on them.

 

It's possible that the low cost coils might have less total longevity than the higher-priced ones, but it's been my suspiciion that they all come out of the same factory or supplier.  "Brand Name" can account for some price differences, but not all of the difference.  Sometimes, it seems that on some ACDelco products, they charge for the longer warranty right up front, too!

 

NAPA could well be a better choice,

NTX5467

[telriv]

The better coils have 4 Crips/indentations around the outside edges at the top.

Haven't been produced for MANY years.

The ONLY way you will find one is to do a search???

Even then there's no guarantee.

 

Tom T. 

[californiamilleghia]

Do Ignition coils go "bad" sitting on a shelf ?

 

and are most of the older ones 6 volt with a resistor to run on 12v ?

 

 

[NTX5467]

In one respect, I "gave up" on ignition coils ages ago.  Either the car runs or it does not.  Whenever I would use a meter to check the internal resistance, the numbers never matched the service manual specs, yet the engines ran fine.

 

Over the past few years, I've read that some makers used 6 volt coils on their 12 volt systems.  Only 6 volts when the engine were running, but 12 volts for starting, or something like that.  Have ignition coils been far more universal than we might ever suspect?

 

So, to me, if the engine starts and runs fine, the ignition coil is working.  Not "weak" or anything else, just "working".  Although of late, newer-manufactured condensers seem to be causing most of the problems in ignitions (past points).  The cure?  Old, NOS condensers.  The newer ones, even name brands, can come apart inside and cause running issues, big time.

 

Just my experiences and observations,

NTX5467

[XframeFX]

On 8/7/2023 at 4:35 AM, moran75 said:

I'm looking to buy an ignition coil for my 65 and see rock auto has grand total of 7 'standard replacements

I know, too many choices and more research.

Are you running original Contact Breaker Points or, original Delco distributor converted to breakerless ignition?

For contact points, you'd want a coil with approx. 1.5Ω primary resistance. Oil filled is default although some say oil filled coils should always be mounted vertical. Epoxy seal coils are for high vibration applications and they can be mounted in any position. Breakerless ignition can usually accept a wider range of coils less than 1.5Ω.

Choosing a brand name is best of course. But beware some are sourced and packaged with that Brand name.

[moran75]

3 hours ago, XframeFX said:

I know, too many choices and more research.

Are you running original Contact Breaker Points or, original Delco distributor converted to breakerless ignition?

For contact points, you'd want a coil with approx. 1.5Ω primary resistance. Oil filled is default although some say oil filled coils should always be mounted vertical. Epoxy seal coils are for high vibration applications and they can be mounted in any position. Breakerless ignition can usually accept a wider range of coils less than 1.5Ω.

Choosing a brand name is best of course. But beware some are sourced and packaged with that Brand name.

Original points…..judging by all comments there can be big differences then 😀 I’ll do my research….1000 thanks all

kev

[avgwarhawk]

Truth be told, original style points have never let me down. I use Standard Products with great success. However, I do not like the color of Standard coils.  They are blue. Blue Streak as it were. Occasional they are grey in color. But the price is right and work out of the box. I close the hood, don't see it, the engine runs. 

[Bloo]

There was a time when Standard products were high grade and their Blue Streak products were the best available. Things have changed. My last set of Standard points (about 4-5 years ago) were of such bad quality they were completely unusable. Caveat Emptor.

[Bloo]

On 8/7/2023 at 3:35 AM, moran75 said:

Is there such a variation in spec to explain diff prices for 'standard replacements' ? Do you really get a better product for £32.81....thought an ignition coil was an ignition coil, if you see what i mean

I don't know if you get a better product for your money or not, maybe. The cheapest ones are probably not high quality. It would probably be wise to buy a reputable brand. An expensive coil is not a performance modification. It is comparable to engine chrome. Aftermarket ignition marketing in a bunch of nonsense. Prattling on about "50.000 Volts" or whatever is something you will see a lot of and it is misdirection.

[NTX5467]

As a Holley engineer noted in a seminar I attended back in the earlier 1980s, the coil will only build enough energy to jump the spark plug gap, no more, no less.  The stock coils were usually good for 30KV in the 1960s.  They usually worked just fine on Street HEMIs and other HP engines, back then.  But if you had a 6-71 blower on the engine, THEN you might need some extra spark energy.

 

As I recall "Blue Streak" was Standard's "high performance" brand, but is now just morphed into their portfolio of brands.

 

NTX5467

[XframeFX]

8 hours ago, Bloo said:

Aftermarket ignition marketing in a bunch of nonsense. Prattling on about "50.000 Volts" or whatever is something you will see a lot of and it is misdirection.

The Delco V8 distributor with the Windowed Cap is a "Small Cap" distributor. The spacing between towers on the cap is not enough for 50,000 Volts.

However, I do support upgrading the Trigger Circuit to enable full voltage to the coil, not just during Start. So, a larger sparkplug gap and no ballast resistor. But again, just like too many choices for coil selection, too many choices for aftermarket breakerless ignitions (notice me not describing it as electronic ignition?)

ALL PARTS purchased today require prior research. Yes, Caveat Emptor

[Bloo]

I don't see any advantage at all to running the coil on full voltage. The idea of not doing that was to get full voltage to the coil during starting. System voltage is about 14.7 volts running, and maybe 10.5 or 11 cranking, and worse if the battery is dead and barely chugging the starter over. 10.5 volts (or less) on a system designed to run on 14.7 volts going to make for a really weak ignition system when it is needed most.

 

A coil would work OK designed for full voltage... after all that's how 6 volt cars worked, and for the most part they did fine. it's sure not as good as having a system that runs on a lower voltage (like 9 volts assuming a 14.7v system) and then the voltage jump up a volt from normal instead of going down while cranking.