Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

I have been trying to work my way through why my Clipper will turn over but not start. If I have been checking everything right thus far (spark plugs, cables, condenser, etc.), I believe the ignition coil may be the problem. The ignition coil that was on the car, that I have to assume worked at some point was an American Bosch Coil TC-606. Among my spare parts I do have a NOS ignition coil CR6012A but I am not sure if this will work or is compatible. Keep in mind, my testing knowledge is limited and mostly based off of comparing ohm readings between the NOS and the old one. (I haven't tried hooking it up to not inadvertently create a different issue.)

As always, help, tips and guidance is appreciated on what to look for, etc.

I don't have any part numbers for the Clipper coil but perhaps someone else will know if either of the coils you have are correct. Good original coils are hard to come by and while some vendors do offer exchange rebuilts and the occasional NOS does come along, some of the rebuilts have proven to be problematic and IMO, using a dried out 70 or 80 year old NOS coil is asking for trouble.

It is always good to have a spare coil anyway so you might pick up a universal IC7 coil along with a universal bracket from Napa to do the testing. That coil can also be used as a spare if you do find or have a good original.. Although the modern coil does not mount the same way and you will need to extend the wire in the armored cable that connects to the terminal on the bottom of the original coil so it will reach the new terminal location on the modern coil, the IC7 does work well in the Clipper.

If you wanted to totally convert to a modern coil, every so often old conversion brackets appear on ebay which will allow the modern coil to mount using the screw holes in the original location. You will still need to extend the armored cable wire and protect the extended length from vibration and being damaged as it comes thru the firewall. Unfortunately the conversion bracket does not have a provision for the wire so you are kind of on your own in figuring out the best way.

When I converted to an IC7 in my 47 I made a holder for the coil to mimic the original mount and look. The end of the holder has a terminal which lets the stock armored cable and wire mount on the end just like the original. A short length of wire extends to connect to the new coil terminal. Doing something like that is another option or you could just mount a cover plate over the old hole in the firewall and use the universal bracket to mount the new coil horizontally over the cover plate.

Here is an example of the commercial bracket and a photo of what I made.

Attach file:

---

  47 coil bracket.jpeg (127.99 KB)


  Coil holder.jpg (416.70 KB)

The old one was already mounted with a standard bracket and partially over the hole (not in it) so let's just say a rough no fit approach and at this point I am less concerned about the fitment and more "will she run". Thanks for the tips.

One other thing to consider is some have had issues with the wire insulation breaking down on the wire running inside the armored cable and also with the coil contact making a poor connection inside the ign switch. This results in some unexplained intermittent issues. You might verify at the coil end you have a steady solid 6 volts coming from the ign switch or even disconnect that wire and use a jumper wire direct from the battery to temporarily "hot wire" the coil and totally bypass the ign sw coil section and wire coming from the switch.