You're right. I've got a '26 Model T that I finally got running. People love to see those beautiful coils. The top plates are brass, and they really polish up nicely. Since he's not putting the coil into a "T" he's not worried about filling the voids in the box, but if it's on an actual Model T, it will shake so much that the parts will probably rattle loose. I was out in mine last week taking the first drive when the coil box lid vibrated off which caused two of the coils to lose contact. I like this guy's style. He explains everything so clearly.
+skycarl Yeah I use to restore old radios, still have about 50 laying around!! I have one similar to your 84!! I think mine is a 1935 model 60B!! Never finished it, got tired of restuffing them tar pot caps!!☺
doing one now. just gotta order the cap. surprisingly the tar was still very soft inside but hard to dig out. had a round style paper cap in it that went bad
Very interesting for me. Until I watched your vids I'd never heard of a buzz coil. However, at the start where you show the points sparking a lot, I instantly knew you were right, and it was the condenser. Replaced so many on distributors lol. Most kids today don't even know what a distributor is.
Exactly. Modern cars...it's like being a 5 year old again and knowing nowt. Least my Clio diesel has no electronics, so I can fix it. No air bags, ABS etc etc.
+805ROADKING Not all of us are like that, I'm 19 and I do quite a bit of work on old cars! :) My car is and 82' corolla with a little 4 cyl hemi that I just rebuilt, Threw a weber 32/36 carb on there to make it that much better.
I messed around with those Toyota 2tc and 3tc hemi's quite a bit from my early teens in to my 20s and those lil suckers can be built to pump out a good bit of power for a lil 4 banger
This was really really helpful! I had a question, maybe you could answer it. How do you test the primary and secondary coil? I think you test the secondary for resistance using the two posts on the side, but I’m not sure how to test the primary... thanks for the video!
As it turns out my friends that are wrong! I am not a know it all! I didn't know there was a cap inside those coils! That is a great tip! When I was a kid I got a shock off of that type of coil. It didn't feel good. The wire inside them must be about number 35. I tried to separate the copper off the high voltage side to see how long it is? Never got it off too far as it got all tangled up! There must be a few thousand feet on on it?
Great tutorial!...One thing....I would not recommend using the typical silicone sealant to fill the voids in the box. The reason, is that typical silicone sealants contain a percentage of _ACETIC ACID._ (Smells like vinegar?) This acid reacts with copper to produce verdigris, which is a form of copper oxide, indicating the copper is being 'attacked,' so to speak. There are specialized silicone compounds that don't have this acid in the compound. I'm not a chemical engineer or metallurgist, but after 55 years, I've personally seen the results of 'fixes' of electrical items with silicone sealant. They weren't so good.
This made me think if the windings have gone bad or someone has destroyed them by poking with a screwdriver through the tar into the wrong location in the buzz box, could the whole contents be replaced with an electronic version inside the original enclosure, using a suitable coil and a kind of free-running CDI driver. It is of course not the original thing any more but at least it would keep the appearance and functionality of the original ignition system.
My father told me a story about how he had one wired in his car.When he picked up his father,his father touched the door handle and POW.His father never rode with him again.
Well is it posibel to build some thing similar with blinker relays? If so how to change pulse duration in relays? For around 300rpm for 4 cilinder engine?
Interesting how they packed it with tar to protect it. What kind of amp draw would something like that have? I would think over time that tar aids in that condensor breaking down, heat wise.
I have one that is completely dead. Curious if you have ever replaced the actual coil part with something from a later engine that will work and fit into the box?
Would that exact coil be found only on a Model A? Or was it made by an electric component company and distributed with a number of different motor products?
+John Ratko Nah they are original coils off a Model T, They have the Ford emblem embedded right in the case!! There was a company that did make them later on, but the ones I have are the real McCoy!!☺
+Albert Koopman Yeah, it's not worth buying replacement parts for our coils, good used ones are only $5!! We only use them in show engines!! If we were using it in a Model T that would be different!! I only messed with this one because I have hundreds of capacitors laying around!!☺
Did you know that the buzz coil is actually a spark gap transmitter ? The plug wire is the antenna lead . If you look at (lawnmowerman02346) I show a short power point on making buzz coils from scraps . Steve
Now you tell me!! I tried it using an old 5S coil!! It worked as a coil would but it wouldn't buzz!! I'll have to find a 4 wire coil at the next show!!☺
The buzz coils do operate all the time. The batteries power the buzz coils during starting. Then the driver throws a switch on the steering column to run the buzz coils off the magneto. The batteries don't recharge like in a modern car so running the ignition off the magneto preserves the power in the batteries.
