I am trying to keep my 73 1.7L as stock as possible yet very reliable for extended travel. Recently had professional first engine removal to address several minor oil leaks and other concerns, to prepare for a 5 day tour event in June. The original coil is still in place and seems to be working fine, what is the usual life expectancy for a 50 yr. old coil?
Plenty of functional OEM coils (buzz box or trembler) on Model T’s. So let’s call it 100 years or so.
A coil is simply a transformer wound with copper wire. The main thing to fail would be the breakdown of insulation on the wire over time due to heat. Overall, coils are highly reliable. They are easily bench checked by measuring the resistance of the primary and secondary coil windings.
You’re probably going to get all sorts of anecdotal stories about random coil failures. I’m not denying they happen, but they are anomalies for the population of coils as a whole.
Don’t believe me? Ask yourself when the last time the local power company came by and changed the electric transformer up on your neighbourhood power pole - as a matter of “maintenance”. Sure those randomly blow too. When they do, the power company replaces them. But they don’t replace them every 50 years, just because.
There are literally hundreds of components in your engine that “could” fail. What fun could we expect to have if we were constantly fretting about what could fail. We would never leave the house. Why dwell (pun ) on the coil?
Go have fun - enjoy the drive.
Dwell. Funny.
If you are really worried pick up a spare and store in the frunk. But probably fine.
Lol. Totally right.
There was a thread here for a guy going cross country. Pretty sure his load of spares and tools weighed 500 lbs easy.
So with road cars my spares included:
Frunk:
The spare
Fan belt
The tool roll
Small ratchet and socket set
Anti fog
Windex
Paper towels
Door pocket:
Fuses
Bulbs for taillights
Pen
Condom for all the girls fawning over the 914 (very old)
Voltage regulator
Thats it really aside from the dangerous jack in the trunk.
very very reliable as long as they are not leaking, we have hundreds of good original bosch ones Used on the shelf
Yes!!! AAA and money. All set
I pack a spare clutch, accelerator cable and a couple of box wrenches, but other than my AAA card, that's about it.
Cables are a good low weight add
Bring a friend so you have someone to get out and push.
Always be uphill.
Yep; still got my original coil, though pack a new blue coil in my in car parts box.
Like the idea of that plastic Porsche tool box. Better than my shoe box. Father’s Day???
If you can drive your car 25 miles and trust it, you can drive it 1000 and trust it.
If your coil is fine now, then it’s fine.
I bring a small box of tools, and the only parts I bring are spare throttle and clutch cables. Aside from that, AAA card and be there.
Zach
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