Packard Forum Index » Modification Discussion

Can i use the 94 T'Bird coil?????? Or is it somekind of built-in to something coil like the Gm HEI

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It depends on the vehicle, as some are mounted on the distributor, and some are mounted on a heat sink. My '94 T-Bird was mounted up by the radiator on a heat sink. You'll just have to look for it, start at the distributor first, and if it's not there keep looking around the car. If it's on the distributor, close the hood and look for another car that has it remotely mounted.

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Yes you can, and no it's not. GM is the only one who made the coil-in-cap HEI to my knowledge.

Just to make it interesting... the car I want to do this on is a 1975 Porsche 911.

They came stock with electronic ignition triggered by points. The original Bosch module seems to work, sometimes. An aftermarket unit that came with the car doesn't seem to work at all. The aftermarket unit costs over $400, I'm scared to price a Porsche one.

Some research on the net revealed that there was a class action lawsuit against Ford for defective ignition modules. If they reached a certain degree of heat they just quit dead on the hiway. When they cooled down away they went again. Thousands were stranded this way, Ford knew about it for years and did nothing about it.

So if you use the Ford module be sure to keep it cool. I don't know if they ever did fix this but I expect they did. The lawsuit was in 2002.

As to the location of the module. Most of them are right on the side of the distributor, in other words part of the distributor. Some are remote mounted on an aluminum heat sink on the rad support. So far we know Aerostar vans and T birds are that way.

Even if your ignition will work as the point rubbing block wears down it will change your timing. So it might be a good idea to check the gap, clean the points and lube the rubbing block every 20,000 miles or so.

By the way even a Kettering ignition will function with worn points. I once did a tuneup on a 1967 Dodge Dart slant 6. The owner had the car towed in because it wouldn't start. The points gap was less than .003 yes 3 thousandths of an inch before it quit working. With new points plugs and condenser it ran like new.

One more thing. Increasing plug gap and installing a hotter coil may give a better spark. But it may also cause arcing in the distributor cap. Ford and Chrysler cars with electronic ignition have ribs inside the cap for extra insulation or isolation. I don't know what modern cap would fit on your Packard distributor but it would be great if there was.

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That would have been the old Duraspark system, from the late '70s through the '80s. That's the big box on the fender that the parts guy would ask you "blue grommet, brown grommet, red grommet...." And 99% of the people looked at you like you had two heads.... And 99% of the time it was the blue grommet...

My previous tenure as a parts guy is showing through here....

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That's why it's always a good idea to drill a small hole in the bottom side of the cap. Some distributor caps were vented, anyone know why? (I'll give this two days before I reveal the answer..)

To release engine fumes that could blow the cap off? I actually saw this happen. Once on a badly flooded engine the other time was a guy who loved to spray WD40 in everything.

No, it was the TFI system.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=89424&page=1&page=1

This lawsuit covered 1982 to 1995 models. Maybe that's when they started using the remote module with heat sink.

Are you saying the Duraspark was lousy too?