Ignition coils

See NAPA for excellent coils. I ripped the old coils out of their shells, and then slipped the new coils down inside. Used some epoxy cement to hold them from slipping out.

Recently I performed the “hidden coil swap” on my Series 80. This technique was brought to the level of an art form by Mike Bortoli.

It involves mounting a modern coil and condenser to the interior side of the firewall. It is out of sight and out of the way.

I then ran the new wires into the wiring loom in a clandestine fashion and left the original coil wire in place but going essentially nowhere (cut it short, but it continues into its old position and ends out of sight) and ran the new condenser wire to buddy up with the old condenser (running the electrical impulse from the new through the old).

The car gets great spark and runs like a charm. It also appears original, as I kept the old Delco-Remy coil in place. The condenser on the Series 80 resides inside the distributor but gets a juice boost from the new condenser.

This may be a useful approach to your problem, or it may be useless information, depending on the arrangement of the coil on your 1930, Model B.

I believe that I used a 6-V coil from a 6-V VW and a condenser from a small V-8 Ford (352 / 289? Contact Paul Johnson for this info). Both were bought at NAPA.

Happy Wiring!