> I was just reading Dan's Electrical Maintenance Handbook section on the
> ballast wire and how it's not needed with the Lucas Sport Coil.
The Lucas Sports coil (like other Lucas coils) actually comes in both versions,
external ballast required (DLB110) and not required (DLB105) (although the
DLB105 is more commonly available). It's important to know which you have, and
wire accordingly.
Mini Mania carries both kinds.
http://www.minimania.com
> What I
> didn't pick up on at first is that he's recommending a wider plug gap when
> using the Sport Coil. He suggests using a starting point of .035 versus the
> normal .025. I've been still gapping my plugs at .025. What will be the
> symptoms if the gap gets too big?
Anything from hard starting, to less power, to poorer fuel mileage, to not
running at all. Fuel mileage is easiest to check accurately, so that's probably
where you would notice it first; unless something fails. Remember that, even
though the coil has been upgraded, the rest of the system likely hasn't been.
In particular, there have been lots of reports of failed rotors recently, and
running a larger gap certainly puts more strain on the rotor.
One of our local club members learned about this the hard way, about 200 miles
south of VTR 2000. He had a bad plug wire on his TR4A, and his Lucas Sports
coil put out enough voltage to ruin a brand-new rotor. I wasn't carrying a
spare (I do now), so we had to cut down a 6-cylinder rotor to get him home.
> And what do you gap at with the Sport Coil
> and no ballast wire?
My suggestion would be to stick with .025". If you must experiment, you could
try going to .030" or even .035" and see if it makes a noticeable difference.
But at least on my car, it didn't.
Oh, and be sure to carry a spare rotor.
Randall
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