How reliable are old coils?, Getting her ready to travel! Options

[Jamie]

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? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

[Superhawk996]

Plenty of functional OEM coils (buzz box or trembler) on Model T’s. So let’s call it 100 years or so. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

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 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) ) on the coil?

Go have fun - enjoy the drive. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)