Nothing About This Bosch Red Coil Makes Sense

Dont you have an injected car with dinoplex ignition? That ad says these cannot be used on electronic ignition. These are for points ignition systems only.

 

The red coil required an external balast resistor and the blue coil could be bolted on without. As I remember I used to stock a case of the blue coils as they could be bolted on anything British. I only used the red coils on applications where a resistor was mounted near the coil or if it has resistance wire on the positive feed.

Dave

 

The ad seems to confirm this.

What are the spec's on the 308 coil, or is there another thread here chasing it down? What are the differences? I can bug an EE buddy of mine about it.

I've used Victoria British for LBC parts for a while. Good folks.

www.superformance.co.uk lists a coil for 308's that appears to be magnetti-marelli (sp?) for about $60.

DM
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Wow, you're the first person I've ever heard call Long Motor Corp "Good folks". Usually they're described with a bit more explicative. I've used them for a while myself. They're cheap, but their Customer Service is terrible and they've definitely got a "go F' yourself" attitude about customers with problems.

 

Weird.

Never had a problem with them. OF course, it's been 3-4 years since I sold the TR6, who knows how they treat people now.

Never returned anything, either.

DM

 

Sorry, I didnt even open the link before I posted. I have used the Blue coil on many applications using Pertronics, Crane, Lucas.... electronic ignition. I am sure the disclaimer came from a complaint that your coil blew up my computer. For many years the Blue coil was the industries best bet for a general replacement. Its been a few years now but Long / Victoria British supplied numerous parts to keep both the TR3 and the Nash Metro alive and well.

Dave

 

Ok. I just got off the phone with Don who is a tech correspondant with Bosch. In order to reach them, one must call their number, leave a message with the attendant, and then the tech calls you back. Quite the process, but makes sense so they are not killed with calls. Anyway.

Don stated that the red coil primary resistance is about 1.2 ohms, and the secondary resistance is about 5.5 ohm. The windings in the red coil is about 200:1. The red and blue coils are 'resin' filled, not oil or epoxy filled. Don stated that the resin they use has tested to be much better than even epoxy when it came to vibration and mountability. Don could not tell me an exact power output from the coils, but he did say that the coil industry severely 'pads' their numbers to sell coils. So a 45k volt coil that other companies claim is more like 35k-40k. Don said that the red coil is better than any other performance coil out because the resin they use inside is much better, and the power output is 'at least' what any others are putting out. A stock coil puts out about 17k volts, and the blue coil is more than twice as strong as a stock coil. He further advised that the red coil is stronger than the blue coil by around a 25-30% margin.

Hope this clears everything up. If anyone else wants to call to speak with a tech, call 888-715-3616, leave your name with the attendant and what you want to talk about, and you will be called by a tech shortly.

 

Crane Cams PS60 coils worked great in my 308s with carbs. low price too.

 

Would they work on an injected '80?

 

A stock coil puts out about 17k volts,...

Don't know if that was mean't to describe 308 coils.

 

I used Red coils in my 308. Double Perlux installed in one distributor, Rewired so the ballast resistors are between the key and the positive side of the coil. (stock Ferrari they are between the points and the coil which is weird). The ballast resistors are bypassed with the key in the start position.

The "rewiring" was simple, because it actually only involved juggling terminals around.

Jay

 

Ricambi has the correct ones, but I bolted on the MSD epoxy ones that Franklin Parker uses on his Boxer......

 

17k volts would not surprise me for the Marelli coils, but my above statement was not directly for Marelli coils, just 'stock' coils in general.

Bosch changed their part numbers for the red and blue coils when manufacturing plants/techniques changed. They started in Germany, then were made in Brazil (been in Brazil for a long time now). The red coil was even silver with a red label for a little while. They all have different part numbers, but you can rest assured there is only one 12v red coil, and one 12v blue coil.

 

When the starter is cranking, the battery voltage may get down to 8 or so volts. To insure adequate spark in tough winter mornings, coils may be designed for an 8v primary with the excess dropped by a ballast resistor. During the crank event, full battery voltage is applied to the coil, bypassing the resistor. Returning the key to 'run' places the resistor back in the circuit to drop the battery voltage, now up to as much as 14v, so that the coil is back in operating range.

I have no idea who and how many run this scheme but have run into it often. By aware that use of electronics rather than breaker points introduces a whole new set of criteria and the general rule is matching components as the circuitry has be specifically designed to work with a particular coil as it does more than just ground the coil for spark but also modifies the duration of the coil grounding to build a hotter spark under certain conditions. And some even regulate the input voltage to the coil primary. Match, don't mix. Better yet if it ain't broke...

 

Cranes tech guys were super helpful, they knew what they were doing and were excited to help me with my dual XR3000 install on my 77 gtb ( i freaking detest points). i cannot tell you they will work on an injected car, but i would suggest calling them and asking. the xr3000 thread i posted should have their tech number, or just google them.

 

My 77 has a Pertronix conversion with both pick ups in 1 dizzy. I rewired my Bosch "Blue" coils so that they get 12V on both the start and run position on the ign. key. I have had this setup since 2000 and have never touched it. I run black extenders and 7MM carbon core wires which I made up and NGK 5 ES plugs. Timing is set at 7* BTDC and it runs like a raped ape. Just my 2 cents here.

 

WOW. That is amazing. I just spoke with Don at Bosch this morning at the same phone number, and was provided totally different output numbers. That is kind of flabbergasting.

 

Let us know how they worked out. I am glad you got some straight answers and am even more glad the community has some truth on the subject.

I was reading up on coils a bit this afternoon to satiate the bug. I went to various webistes, and then found myself on MSD's website. From what I read, their blaster coil outputs are rated at 45k volts, BUT that voltage is while using a MSD 6A or the like box. In their item description they are very clear below the actually description in stating that voltage figures were obtained while using MSD 6A. Any coil getting charged with 480-550 volts constantly is going to put out at least twice its normal capacity. So what on Earth are those coils putting out with a plane jane points set-up I wonder.