Bad Coil on 52?

[WarEagleDan]

Hi folks,
I picked up a "52 8N sidemount SN 498996 several years ago for $500. After about a grand in must do stuff it cranked and has been running since. Bout a month ago it started sputtering and quit running. I let it sit and cranked it again. It ran awhile then did same. Suspected coil cause I knew it was getting gas. Finally got around to looking at it today. Coil looks like it was beat up pretty bad with a hammer. I could tell coil connection was cracked. Soon"s I tried to remove nut it crumbled. When I took the coil off, I noticed the BAT terminal went to the distributor. The terminal marked DISTRIBUTOR went to the ballast resistor. The ballast resistor is jumpered so it"s not really in the circuit. I spent about an hour looking at the wiring diagrams and finally decided I needed perfessional help from the experts here. What do I have, what coil do I need, and how do I hook it up?
Thanx,
Dan

 

[old]

Question before and answer. IS it 12 volts or 6 volts???????? I'm going to guess and say 12 volts so if 6 forget what I say. So if 12 volts it should be - ground so buy a true 12 volt coil which has no need for a ballast resister and hook the - side of the coil to the distributor and the + side to the ignition switch

 

[souNdguy]

if it has an alternator.. it needed the resistor inline with the coil.. and the polarity was ok swapped as machine polarity was swapped.

if it is 12v.. save yuorself the time and money and hassle and get a napa ic14sb real 12v coil and remov ethe old ressitor fromt he circuit completely.

soundguy

 

[WarEagleDan]

Oops! Sorry, I was baby sitting grandbabies last night and forgot to include all info. It has a 12v neg ground system with what looks like the original generator. That's what has me bamfoozled. If I am looking at the diagram correctly, it looks like the coil is wired backwards. There are no markings on the coil at all (except BAT & DIST) and it is very beat-up looking. Is there any way I can tell if it 6v or 12v? thanx

 

[Dell (WA)]

Dan.......almost 100% guarantee you iff'n yer present roundcan ignition coil is marked BAT and DIST, its an original 6-volt coil. And BAT is (-) and DIST is (+) since yer 52-8N came from the factory "positive ground".

Modern coils, either 6-volt or 12-volt are usually marked (+) and (-) and are connected to reflect the battery polarity. ...ie... iff'n battery is negative ground, the coil (-) terminal is connected to 5-nipple distributor points feedthru and the coil (+) is connected to the ignition switch ON.

Many replacement 12-volt roundcan coils are actually 6 or 8-volt coils and have a paper tag "use with resistor" that gitts lost. That is why we recommend using a real 12-volt roundcan coil like NAPA IC14-SB that uses NO RESISTOR, EVER. $15 (cheap). Not only that, but it also has hotter sparkies too, a nice side benefit.

Before the popular Delco 10-IS 12-volt alternator with built-in voltage regulator became readily available, there were many "stealth" 12-volt conversions using gennys with external squarecan voltage regulator from Ford Falcons used.

So bottom line, iff'n yer present roundcan coil is marked BAT and DIST, its an original 6-volt roundcan coil and you MUST have a 12-to-6v converting resistor somewhere iff'n yer electrical system is 12-volt. Check yer battery water holes, 6-holes = 12v battery.

Me? While even beat-up roundcan coils are generally bullet-proof, iff'n it makes you feel warm and fuzzy ...er... sparkled, I'd byte the bullet and gitta NAPA IC14-SB real 12v coil with NO RESISTORS. ......Dell, yer self-appointed sparkie-meister

 

[WarEagleDan]

Thanks, Dell. I had the napa ic14sb ready go in when I looked at the marking on the old coil and tried to square that with the jumper over the ballast resister. That's when I got confused. I made a pretty extensive search for another resistor somewhere in the circuit-it ain't there. I am going to hook up the new napa 12v coil per your instructions and see what happens. Will let you know. thanx

 

[Dell (WA)]

Dan.......you write......."I looked at the marking on the old coil and tried to square that with the jumper over the ballast resister. That's when I got confused"........you do know the original 6-volt 5-nipple roundcan ignition coil had NO BALLAST resistor, don't you??? .......Dell