coils

[shredby4]

Is there a downside to running really big ignition coils? My buddy just got the 60,000 volt Summit coil and it done wonders for his truck... I should mention he has a Mitsubishi truck with a quadrajet. No, I'm not kidding. But ya can't argue with the price, the coil costs $29. I was considering ordering one, so if there is a such thing as "too hot a coil", please let me know.

[PhilSine]

Well, more voltage equals higher current. More current means more power traveling through your wires. More power through wires means more heat in wires. If all wires stay the same size, could lead to breakdown of wires.

The only wires involved are the coil to distributer wire, and all the plug wires. If you get nice and thick wires, you won't have a problem. You may cause premature wear on the contacts in your cap though so you may need to buy a more heavy duty cap (may, as in possibly, but not for sure).

Aside from that, I can't think of anything else.

[xj2fsj]

what coil is this? and do yo think Jacobs 8.8's would be sufficient?

[PhilSine]

Ignition coil I'm sure. 8.8 mm's should work quite well. I believe OEM wires are 7mm but not 100%. I currentle have 7.5mm wires on mine but that's with an OEM ignition components.

[kong]

If you upgrade the coil, you should definitely upgrade your cap, rotor, and wires. For the cap and rotor make sure it has brass contacts or you're just wasting money. For wires, get some 8.5mm or larger. Make sure they are wound and have low resistance.
If you don't upgrade your wires they will burn up. The higher resistance of OEM wires just soak up that voltage and burn 'em up. My brother uses MSD and I use Crane. Both are great wires and cost 79 and 59, respectively.
There are plenty of good wires out there, and plenty of bad ones too.

I'm not sure what the effect is on the ignition box, so I dunno if you have to replace that too, but those stock boxes aren't exactly bombproof either...

You should check out the Technical Library Link on this site on ignition upgrades, it is really helpful.

Kong.
81Wag4017-727-219

[shredby4]

I was thinking of upgrading to the same cap you're supposed to use with the TFI upgrade. Would that be good enough? Or do I need to get and aftermarket high dollar cap and rotor? I was planning on doing the wires and plugs Monday after I get my carb back. I may just go to a 40,000 volt coil instead of all the way up to the 60,000.