Ignition coil mounting

[Jim Comet]

I decided to buy a new coil for my Comet as the old Mallory was purchased in 1986. I bought an MSD blaster HVC 2 coil. This is a square unit with great reviews. Anyway my question is should I make a bracket and mount it on the engine near the distributor. This would expose it to engine heat and vibration. I could easily mount it on the fender well away from heat and vibration. With that said the engine mounted one would only need a 10 or 12 in coil wire while the fender well mounted one would need a 24 inchish coil wire. What are your guys's thoughts on coil wire length? Is there one disadvantage (coil wire length vs heat and vibration) that outweighs the other? Thanks for the thoughts. Jim

[fryedaddy]

i opted to put mine on the fender with a two foot wire.i would rather have the shorter wire,but i didn't want the extra heat and vibs so i put it on the fender-works fine.i still get a spark that will knock you on your butt. lol

[Faron]

With todays low ohm wires ( spiro coil style ) a long coil wire is no big deal , with the old carbon impregnated fiberglass , it was a problem waiting to happen , AND of course Do Not use a Solid Core Wire !!

[thatdarncat]

Mounting it on the inner fender with a long coil wire seems common, and I know people that have done it ( mostly racecars ) with no issues. I bought a used MSD HVC coil just before Dragweek in 2015 and changed my car over at that time. I didn't want to change my wiring at that time ( I had enough else to do ), and I had plans to mount something on my inner fender, so I made a bracket and mounted it to the head. My bracket is steel and I put a bend in it to clear the valve cover lip, it uses the two holes on the front of the head. I had no issues on Dragweek, and I plan to do the same with a HVC II coil on the Cougar I'm building. Those coils are heavy, and the bracket I made does flex some, but seems robust enough. I'd be interested if someone has come up with a better bracket - maybe something out of billet aluminum?

[plovett]

Put it on the fender with the longer wire.

JMO,

paulie

[cammerfe]

I have commonly mounted the coil to the front of the driver's side head on a bracket with enough standoff so there is airflow all around the coil and the air hitting it gets there before running across the engine. The last time I had a coil fail it was mounted to a flathead in the family '53 Merc. I replaced it with a Magspark from Mallory. That would have been in '57.

KS

[thatdarncat]

Picture of John Calvert's '64 Fairlane Stock Eliminator car ( not my picture ). Inner fender seems to work for him.

[scott foxwell]

Mounting it on the inner fender with a long coil wire seems common, and I know people that have done it ( mostly racecars ) with no issues. I bought a used MSD HVC coil just before Dragweek in 2015 and changed my car over at that time. I didn't want to change my wiring at that time ( I had enough else to do ), and I had plans to mount something on my inner fender, so I made a bracket and mounted it to the head. My bracket is steel and I put a bend in it to clear the valve cover lip, it uses the two holes on the front of the head. I had no issues on Dragweek, and I plan to do the same with a HVC II coil on the Cougar I'm building. Those coils are heavy, and the bracket I made does flex some, but seems robust enough. I'd be interested if someone has come up with a better bracket - maybe something out of billet aluminum?

If there's enough flexing, that bracket will eventually crack and break right at the bend. It looks a little thin. IMO a better design would be a thicker piece of flat stock with a couple spacers to move the bracket out far enough to clear the valve cover. 

[cjshaker]

Picture of John Calvert's '64 Fairlane Stock Eliminator car ( not my picture ). Inner fender seems to work for him.

I love how clean that engine compartment looks.

[andyf]

I've made a lot of different coil brackets over time. I usually use 10 ga steel since it is fairly easy to work with but still plenty rigid. I'll mount the coil on the end of the head on a race engine or in the valley on a street engine. Here are a few pictures.

[Falcon67]

I mount mine on the forward surface of the left shock tower.

[Jim Comet]

Falcon, that was my exact coil and mounting provision that I was using. My car now does not have shock towers so I would have to mount it on the fender well just ahead of where the shock tower used to be. I have some 1/8th inch aluminum plate that I may use to mount it to the front of the cylinder head. I think I would make spacer between the head and plate to avoid having to bend the aluminum plate.

[chris401]

I decided to buy a new coil for my Comet as the old Mallory was purchased in 1986. I bought an MSD blaster HVC 2 coil. This is a square unit with great reviews. Anyway my question is should I make a bracket and mount it on the engine near the distributor. This would expose it to engine heat and vibration. I could easily mount it on the fender well away from heat and vibration. With that said the engine mounted one would only need a 10 or 12 in coil wire while the fender well mounted one would need a 24 inchish coil wire. What are your guys's thoughts on coil wire length? Is there one disadvantage (coil wire length vs heat and vibration) that outweighs the other? Thanks for the thoughts. Jim

I drove my F-100 for several years with finder well mounted Acell on a 2' coil wire.

[jholmes217]

I mount mine on the forward surface of the left shock tower.

That's the same place where I used to mount the big Accell Super Coils when I was using them.

[Falcon67]

Mine too lol.