Well, I solved my coil problem. Heres my solution ...



They were an eary Christmas present from my ex gf's Mom. She heard about the problems with the my old ones.

Anyway, I thought Id tell you all a little story. I was at the store buying the coils when it occured to me that I couldnt mount them in the stock locations due to the fact the MSDs are oil filled, and when mounted "obscure" the oil doesnt cover the inner coils all the way, and can cause it to overheat or some ****. So there I was, trying to come up with a clever way to mount them. I was trying to invision using angle alluminum (left over from the oil cooler mounts), or any of the "off the shelf" coil mounts and all this other crap. Then, I had a vision. I saw a set of gauges on the counter and it hit me. I went over to the gauge section and found a triple gauge bracket for $8. The coil brackets were almost that much for one. So I carefully measured a coil (took it outta the package ), and tried to fit it in the 2 1/8" gauge pod. No dice. Its just a hair too small. I decided to buy it anyway, and file it out. It worked out great as you can see in the pics. They also had a dual gauge pod, or even a single, but they were all the same price, so I figured while Im buying them, I might as well plan ahead because Im going direct fire eventually, and I need provisions to mount three coils. Basically, it was easy. I just moved the fuseable link box to where that stupid arm thing was that held the coil wires off the front of the strut tower (same size bolts/screws made it nice), and then used the one existing hole towards the top that used to hold the fusable link box on to hold the bracket up. Then, I drilled one hole for the other screw for the bracket, added a large sheet metal screw, and that was it. As far as the coils staying in the bracket, I put screw type hose clamps on the bottom side to wedge the bracket tight against the upper "lip" on the coils . It works nice. Anyway, I hope this didnt ramble on too much. Any questions, just ask .

~T.J.

 

good imagination! a guage cluster mount ...., who would have thought of that!!!! A for effort, A for originality , A for function!!!! it's always a good idea to get the coils away from the battery too....

 

kill the rats nest. Is that a new alternator or did you clean it that much?

jr

 

Hey thanks!! The only problem I see so far is the material of the gauge mount. Its kinda thin, and if I wiggle the coils, the mount will flex at the bended seam allowing the bottom of the coils to kinda wiggle around a little. My solution: save up money and buy a second gauge mount for the bottom part of the coils. Since the old fuseable link box mounted vertically, I can use the lower existing hole (which just barely clears the brake line) to mount the second gauge mount and stabilize the bottom of the coils to prevent any movement...If that makes sense. Im so tired right now I dont know if it does, lol. My temporary solution was to wrap the hard brake lines with adhesive backed foam tape to prevent knocking and clattering. I wrapped the tape around enough to put slight pressure on the coils in the bracket so there is no movement for now until I can get the second gauge mount.

~T.J.

 

As soon as I get the vacuum caps and other misc stuff, consider it dead

Its a new alternator...The 2nd one for this car, lol.

~T.J.

 

i just had to get a new alternator too, i was driving around on the battery for almost 3 days and when i pulled into the auto electricians it wouldnt start agian. so good timing by me if i dont say so myself.

nice work with the mounting.. now u can use even shoter leads to the dizzy..

 

I thought all coils were oil filled?

 

I believe the stock coils are oil filled too.

 

i put blaster 2s in the stock location and I never had a problem.

 

Yeah, most coils are oil filled, and Ive heard of people putting them in the sock location, but I figure if its important enough for them to say not to do it, Ill listen. That, and when I got direct fire with three of them Im gonna need to mount them there anyway to run the wires from the coils to the plugs.

~T.J.

 

Ahhhh... most excellant job, grasshoppa Very innovative

I don't know jack about coils and don't know about the "oil filled" thing - but I do know that your arrangement sure looks good Much "gooder" than the OEM setup. With the OEM setup, you probably wouldn't be able to see the "MSD BLASTER 2" label

I recommend you do get the second gauge holder to keep the coils from "swinging". Also, watch out for vibration and the sharp edges on the cluster holes. Over time, the vibration will cause the edge to "eat" into the coil Believe me on this, being around aircraft and big trucks all my adult life, I know what vibration can and will do. I've seen a stiff rubber mud guard eat a hole in an aluminum fuel tank!

Anyway, maybe a strip of electrical tape around the coil where it contacts the gauge holder will help. Or, a bead of silcone sealant around the coil on the underside of the cluster? Maybe both of the above... Or, maybe none of the above and just keep an eye on it?

 

Hey, thats some good thinking. I thought about trying to put somehting around the coils where the met, and all I could come up with was more filing and then use the ashesive back foam tape, but that doesnt sound like fun . Ill look into something. I just needed a "solid starting point" to improve from, I think this is it .

~T.J.

 

Damn we're glad you kept the 7 - that's an excellent innovation. Keep up the good work!

 

That's a slick custom work! I put in MSD High Vibration Blaster coils in the stock location as those can be mounted anyway you want. They cost only a few dollars more than the Blaster 2's.
I'm with zookeeper... go to a seafood restaurant and ask for those thick rubberbands that are used to shut lobster claws and put them around the coils. They come in fashionable colors too.

 

BUT NO MORE YELLOW!!!!!! . hehe j/k, good idea TJ! Good thinking! Whatever you do, dont totally encase the coils, they need to dissapate heat.

 

Yeah - Carl made me put yellow on my 7 this weekend to help "brighten" things up. Sorry TJ, you may like it, but damn - I'm starting to get nauseated looking at it

 

Hahahaha...Im a trend starter, lol.

BTW, the only other prblem Im gonna encounter is the spacing between the holes isint quite right for two coils to fit side by side. So when the third coil goes in, its actually going to have to rest on top of the lips of the other two if that makes sense...Look at the third pic down from the top (the top view) and you may see what I mean. Anyway, I think it works well for now .

~T.J.

PS - Good idea about the rubber bands

 

Buy some squid while your at it..... just in case the rubberbands don't work out.

 

Looks good - great idea for a mounting bracket. Instead of stacking the third coil, could you possibly offset grind the hole so that the coil sits a little further into the enging bay and flush on the bracket like the other two? See what I mean? In your third picture it would be further toward the top of the picture.

 

good idea, and cheap! But what's that water cooler still doing on there??? huh!? I thougt you were going to take care of that situation.

 

DOnt worry, we can swap it out for a stocker if it nauseates you that much Hey pratch whaddya think about his mounting idea? I like it, would look custom in your car eh?

 

yellow is awesome!! when my friend was rebuilding one time, he decided to paint all the housings and everything yellow for some reason while they were out lol. everyone calls it the banana engine but it looks good!

--eric

 

Still waiting on the lines to be made...I gotta save up to get the stuff to make the lines.
Yeah, I see what youre saying. I also thought about making the holes ovaled towards the sides so that they scoot away from the middle further.

~T.J.

 

Yeah, that would probably do the trick, too.

 

do those coils make much of a difference? and how much