Mounting a coil sideways?? Yes or not recommended

I was going to mount my coil sideways, horizontal, an old timer told me that it was not a good idea. The coil needs to be vertical for the contents to be level. Sideways can lessen the life of the coil. I had never heard of this.....(that don't mean anything), is there merit to this???? If so, why?

 

my tbird came stock with the coil on its side. close to fifty years later no apparent problems. common on fords

 

If its sideways the electricity will fall out.

 

I have run one mounted sideways for years with no issues. Only time I've ever had oil leak out of a coil is when I wired shit up wrong and almost cooked my motor.

 

They should be mounted upside down so the electricity will run out faster.

 

All kidding aside, I think it has to do with whether the coil is oil- or epoxy-filled.

 

the 383 in the family wagon (67 plymouth) had it mounted sideways from the factory. It died in the mid 70s, the oil leaked out.

I wouldn't worry about it, mount it however you want.

 

Your taking your chances mounting it sideways If you do, run a resistor and you'll be fine. Without and you take a chance of overheating it. As in meltdown.

 

Classic.

 

Ran mine sideways for 15 years with no issue, still running it now with the current owner

 

Some coils do not last long laying on their side, and I think it has to do with the oil not covering the coils inside completely. However, there must be some coils (epoxy maybe) that are made to lay on their side as some cars come from the factory with them that way.

We fried a Mallory coil on my Kids rpu and when I called Mallory they said do not lay it on it's side, so we remounted it upright and it now runs much cooler to the touch and has lasted much longer.

Don

 

Who owns the voltage?

 

My MSD coil was mounted sideways and burned up 200 miles from home.

If the coil is oil filled and mounted on it's side, I think there could be an air bubble that will leave some fo the coils exposed and subject to overheat and fail.

Revards,
X

 

Mount however you want. Just make sure your friends 4 year old doesn't get in the car and turn the key to the on position without anyone knowing. That smokes them up real bad after an hour or so.

 

The oil filled coils have a seal at the top and really can be mounted any way you wish ! The oil only leaks out if the seal is defective. Thats assuming the coil is properly designed and manufactured.

Now lets talk about the poorly made off shore (usually) coils . Who knows how long they will last. And if you are trying to run a low ohm coil it will overheat and cause the oil to expand making the leak easier to happen.


The right coil for the application wont leak...

 

We used to remount coils on old Fords verticaly on the front of the Drivers side head. Not because the OEM position on the front of the intake mafifold was horizontal, but because the coil tower wire was about 2 inches from the fuel line fitting on the carburator.

 

I would doubt the the cavity is totally filled with oil (coolant) .... there is probably an airspace and laying the coil on its side would leave a few windings unprotected from overheating .... just doesnt make for good science if you ask me.

 

nothing gets by a hamber............the current owner has yet to change the coil

 

ding ding ding... most coils these days are epoxy filled. mount any way you like.

 

In my caddy it is sideways sort of. It is not vertical by any means. It has been that way for at least 20 years, maybe 43 if it is the original coil.

 

As many have said that's how they are on most fords from the 60's-80's. Not a problem........

 

Stock, a lot of GMs were mounted sideways, bolted to the rear of the intake. '50s thru at least the '70s.

-Brad

 

Will the car be driven or trailered?

 

There is your answer right there^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

And not a soul mentioned that every Model A Ford built had the coil upside down on the firewall intentionally to take advantage of gravity flow of electrons to the distibutor.

 

But electrons are lighter than air and travel upward as seen by lightning bolts which the main charge travels from earth to cloud.
Maybe on an ignition coil there are so many excess electrons they just spill out in any direction by osmosis.

 

Last Tyme we mounted one was Ok anyway Except Upside down. Then All the beer ran out.

 

You can get special OEM "sideways" coils, but don't mount them longitudinal or else all the sparks will collect at the bottom under accelaration causing a potential explosion.

On a more serious note, just about all Mitsubishi's in the 80's [lancer's colts etc] had the coils mounted horizontally from the factory.

This confirms the rumour that Japanese like it sideways

 

MSD recommends mounting several of their oil filled coils upright.
http://www.msdignition.com/instructiondownload.aspx

 

spicy.