67fhc, should I use old coil (tested, yes)

[autoalain]

Folks, I have 5 old coils, all tested as per instruction on utube, all pass, some may be 40 years old,
hate to waste, I know you may say cheap bugger, why not buy a new one, but my question is do
coils lose some of their power output because of age? they do not leak, my only other worry is
some of these coils could be 12 volt with ballast resistor, and some maybe 12 volt direct, do not know
how to tell. any comments appreciated. Thanks Mike.

[phoenix]

A standard coil should read about 3 ohms where a ballast type coil would be between 1 and 2 ohms.
No reason not to use an old tested one they don't wear out as such.

[Heuer]

If they are the correct Lucas HA12 'high energy' they are very sought after and valuable. They are all dated on the base. Lucas produced three main series of 12 volt coils:

LA12 = 20Kv standard coil (6" long)
HA12 = 30Kv high energy coil (7" long)
SA12 = 40Kv sports coil (1/8" thicker than HA12)

This example is from car 875039:


HA12 sequence is:
#45104 A to D threaded terminals - up to early 1962, 'Fluid Cooled' decal, no 'Made in England' embossed on cap
#45104H riveted single blade terminals - up to mid 1964, probably 'Fluid Cooled' decal, 'Made in England' embossed on cap
#45169B riveted one double and one single blade terminals - mid 1964 onwards, no Lucas decal, negative earth
#45067 was not fitted to the 3.8 cars despite the information in the J30 SPC. It seems to have been specified for the contemporary saloons.

Modern Lucas coils are 1" shorter than the period 7" originals; modern cases are natural aluminium, period cases are anodised grey:


The coil is so prominent you can instantly spot the correct 7" version so essential if you want concours or Factory Fit.

[MarekH]

So was that coil made in the first week of 1959?
kind regards
Marek

[Heuer]

First month of 1959, yes. Just shows you the lead time between manufacture and fitting (March 1961 in this case).

[paydase]

Thanks for the infos, David.
Here another one from 5th month of 59, for my car of october 61, with a similar lead time:

P1240936 (2).jpg (247.66 KiB) Viewed 3044 times

I have a related question.
My car has what seems to be an electrical capacitor besides the coil that I have not seen on other 3.8s.
Is it due to the use of that HA12 coil?

[Series1 Stu]

I have a related question.
My car has what seems to be an electrical capacitor besides the coil that I have not seen on other 3.8s.
Is it due to the use of that HA12 coil?

It looks like a suppression capacitor to reduce radio interference.

Regards

[paydase]

Thank you Stuart