[shew01]

I bought my 1931 Victoria a little over a year ago. It has always started extremely well, usually with one touch of the starter button. As I learn more about Model As, I’ve been replacing worn parts, ordering spare parts, and sometimes swapping out known good parts that came with the car so that I would serviceable parts for spares.

About six weeks or so ago, I swapped out the condenser for a new one. The engine continued to start and run fine.

About two weeks ago, I swapped out the Ford script coil for an oil filled coil that the previous owner sold me with some other spare parts. At the time of car and spare parts sale, I didn’t know that a coil could could be tar filled, expiry filled, or oil filled. I mounted the oil filled coil upside down like the original, and, presumably, there is an air bubble at the top of the coil on its inside. The wiring would not reach far enough to mount the coil right side up.

I’ve driven the car about 300 miles or so, and, yesterday, I noticed the car was hard to start after the engine got warm. I also noticed the coil got pretty warm to the touch. I could still place my hand on it without getting burned, but it seemed pretty hot to me. It was about 72 degrees outside on a nice fall day. The engine has a thermostat that keeps the coolant around 170 degrees.

How warm should a coil get? (I didn’t have my temperature gun with me to check it.)

Does it sound like this “new to me” coil is failing?


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