TheSamba.com :: View topic

Sun May 13, 2018 5:05 pm

Turns out my coil is dead on my 73 super autostick. What is the correct replacement coil for my 1600 dp engine? Can I get a Bosch one?

Sun May 13, 2018 5:09 pm

Sure, can use a 12 volt Bosch coil. Any VW parts vendor should have these.

Sun May 13, 2018 5:18 pm

What makes you think the coil is dead? Have you taken a resistance reading across the terminals?

Sun May 13, 2018 5:23 pm

A Bosch blue coil will work but get the one made in Brazil and not Mexico.

Sun May 13, 2018 5:35 pm

Good?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001CO4WA2#Ask

Sun May 13, 2018 7:01 pm

It looks like an epoxy-filled coil. The reviews say as much.

Check the reviews, though. The latest ones ....

Tim

Mon May 14, 2018 4:42 am

if you shake it and can hear it slosh its an oil filled one and those are crap...stick with epoxy filled

Mon May 14, 2018 6:19 am

Another option to Bosch would be PerTronix Flame Thrower coils. They have them in oil filled or epoxy. Epoxy is good for all environments. Oil filled for stock installs. Oil filled coils sometimes need to be mounted in a certain orientation (terminals up?) so the oil can properly cool the coil internals. Epoxy can be mounted any way you want.
PerTronix Flame-Thrower Ignition Coils 40611
PerTronix Flame-Thrower Ignition Coils 40511
You don't need to buy them from Summit but they list all the relevant specs on their web page for you to see. You want the 3.0ohms primary resistance and not any of the other lower resistance coils (Pertronix makes LOTS of different coils that visually look the same).

If you want to "go faster".. get the chrome version! :P 8) :lol:

Mon May 14, 2018 6:46 am

ASHMAN is recommending a pertronix product? :shock:
Used to be the groupthink on here was pertronix items sucked, now the push on here is to buy them? All sorts of swearing how reliable their electronic ignitinos are, just a couple years ago you wouldve gotten laughed off here if you said that. WTF

Mon May 14, 2018 6:51 am

sb001 wrote: ASHMAN is recommending a pertronix product? :shock:
Used to be the groupthink on here was pertronix items sucked, now the push on here is to buy them? All sorts of swearing how reliable their electronic ignitinos are, just a couple years ago you wouldve gotten laughed off here if you said that. WTF
The coils are good and I recommend them when using a Pertronix module.

Mon May 14, 2018 6:58 am

Glenn wrote: sb001 wrote: ASHMAN is recommending a pertronix product? :shock:
Used to be the groupthink on here was pertronix items sucked, now the push on here is to buy them? All sorts of swearing how reliable their electronic ignitinos are, just a couple years ago you wouldve gotten laughed off here if you said that. WTF
The coils are good and I recommend them when using a Pertronix module
Thanks for proving my point! The important part of that phrase is "when using a pertronix module" so now they're oK too? You wouldve' gotten your ass handed to you saying that a few years ago, where did this sudden push for pertronix over stock stuff come from, it's like youre a dealer and have an alternate agenda. Just curious as I've never run one of their profucts. Want to know why? Go back a few years and read up some threads on here. That's OK the samba'e been wrong about a ton other stuff, might as well throw this onto the pile too

Mon May 14, 2018 7:32 am

PerTronix Flamethrower coils are better and cheaper then Bosch coils. You will never get the die hard purists to ever see it or admit it. Pertronix also makes a chrome coil. If you like chrome then get the chrome. Don't buy into all the Bullshit myths that Bosch is the only coil you can use on a VW. Use the 3 ohm coil for points distributor.

Not saying all PerTronix products are worth buying but the coils are.

Mon May 14, 2018 10:24 am

On the subject of "Bosch is not always the only option"...
I ran the (generic) Summit Racing canister coil for many years w/o problems.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-g5220/overview/
The current specs appear to be the same as when I bought it, though I don't recall it coming with an external ballast resistor when I bought it. The internal resistance (without the external ballast resistor) is very low and requires an external ballast resistor to bring it up to 3.0ohms. Either add a second 1.5ohm resistor or use a single 3.0ohm ballast resistor in place of the one that comes with the coil.

The main reason I went with this coil is because it is rated at (potentially) 60,000v vs. the 20,000v stock rating or the 40,000v Flame Thrower rating. While I doubt I was actually getting 60Kv, I'm sure I was getting more output than the Flame Thrower would have because the listed Turns Ratio was higher for this coil. The ratio of turns between the primary and secondary is directly proportional to the voltage increase in the secondary. The Flame Thrower has a 73:1 ratio with a 12v --> 40Kv rating. IIRC, this Summit coil had more than a 100:1 ratio. This greatly increased the voltage potential in the secondary.

So as long as you get the correct resistance in the primary to work with your ignition (points or electronic ignition module) this coil has the potential to get you more energy at the spark plugs. This means you can increase your plug gap (you actually NEED to increase the spark plug gap to force the coil to generate a higher secondary spark). I was running 0.035" plug gap while running this coil. The wider gap means more reliable ignition with a hotter spark.

As far as whether this coil is reliable? Not only did I run it with an electronic ignition module (CompuFire) with larger spark plug gaps, it was also connected to my Capacity Discharge Ignition (CDI) box (built from a kit). This box used a capacitor to store a 300v charge that it sent into the primary side of the coil as a multi-spark discharge (think MSD 6 or Mallory HyFire CDI box). The coil itself just served as a voltage multiplier converting the 300v input from the CDI into some crazy voltage out the secondary (65,000v+).

The only downside of the Summit Racing coil is the dimensions are different from a Bosch or Flame Thrower coil. The canister is noticeably larger in diameter to accommodate the extra windings. It comes with its own bracket for mounting but the spacing for the screws will not line up with any stock coil bracket or holes in the fan shroud. So you will need to make a new hole where ever you mount your coil.

Mon May 14, 2018 10:24 am

I got mine at autozone (their duralast brand). Yes, its oil filled, but it was 37.99, and they had it in stock. Didn't need to order anything. Works just fine. Made in Mexico.