TI coil; original vs. reproduction?

[Mike E.]

I know there are significant performance differences, but how about visual differences? I am under the impression that the repros have stainless contacts where the originals are non-stainless. Or have reproducers corrected that by now? Are there other visual differences? I've been lucky to have cars with original coils prior to this point. Now I need to know how I visually tell the difference. Thanks for your input.

[Dave S.]

Re: TI coil; original vs. reproduction?

I know there are significant performance differences, but how about visual differences? I am under the impression that the repros have stainless contacts where the originals are non-stainless. Or have reproducers corrected that by now? Are there other visual differences? I've been lucky to have cars with original coils prior to this point. Now I need to know how I visually tell the difference. Thanks for your input.

Mike,
The trained eye can tell the difference in the fonts. The Delco Remy lettering is not as crisp on the repros. Nothing like original Delco in many ways.

[Jim D.]

Re: TI coil; original vs. reproduction?

Mike,
The trained eye can tell the difference in the fonts. The Delco Remy lettering is not as crisp on the repros. Nothing like original Delco in many ways.

Including performance and the ability to make your engine run when the coils get warm.

[Dave S.]

Re: TI coil; original vs. reproduction?

Including performance and the ability to make your engine run when the coils get warm.

[Richard M.]

Re: TI coil; original vs. reproduction?

Here are photos of a '67 263 original coil I was testing for a friend. Not the best photos but all I could find.
DSCN2988.jpg

DSCN2989.jpg

DSCN2990.jpg

Here a a few mediocre shots of 2 repro 263's. Visually shiny studs and hardware. "Delco Remy" not as crisp as the originals.
Both presently residing on a display shelf since they both failed miserably when they got to temperature. Only good for Flight judging & cold start OPs, certainly not for PV. Just yank it afterwards and replace with a good Delco 207 for PV.
0720210603_resized.jpg 0720210603_Burst01_resized.jpg

[Stewart L.]

Re: TI coil; original vs. reproduction?

Original Delcos have standard threads on the terminals, the repros have metric threads is a quick way to tell before you start getting into performance issues.

[James G.]

Re: TI coil; original vs. reproduction?

Your coil on the engine appears to have zinc plated studs and nuts- this would be an original coil.
The two new coils appear to have stainless studs.
FWIW if not mistaken one of the distributors of the repros stated that most of the coil failures are from people failing to air gap the coils and they overheat. Whether an excuse for failure or the actual cause I haven't a clue.

[Dave S.]

Re: TI coil; original vs. reproduction?

Your coil on the engine appears to have zinc plated studs and nuts- this would be an original coil.
The two new coils appear to have stainless studs.
FWIW if not mistaken one of the distributors of the repros stated that most of the coil failures are from people failing to air gap the coils and they overheat. Whether an excuse for failure or the actual cause I haven't a clue.

[Richard M.]

Re: TI coil; original vs. reproduction?

Your coil on the engine appears to have zinc plated studs and nuts- this would be an original coil.
The two new coils appear to have stainless studs.
FWIW if not mistaken one of the distributors of the repros stated that most of the coil failures are from people failing to air gap the coils and they overheat. Whether an excuse for failure or the actual cause I haven't a clue.

James, This was on a '67 L71. Spent lots of time with Ken Anderson(RIP) on the phone regarding this years ago. K&B had the coils made overseas.

We ensured there was a air gap below the coils when mounted in the bracket, as Ken stated. They still failed.

We then installed them one at a time outside the distributor shield, ty-wrapped vertically in open air. Failed after normalization in both cases. IR gun measurements in the 225*-250* range on both when they failed. I didn't want another(3rd) repro to try and gave up on them.

After speaking with Dave Fiedler, he suggested a NAPA IC12(points coil) as a diagnostic tool. Ran a year with that coil until we found a NOS 207, installed in the oven(dist shield). That was about 6 years ago. Been perfect ever since.

A Caveat... we used that NAPA points coil, but we were also using a upgraded K&B TI Amp board, which apparently could handle the higher Primary coil resistance. It is unclear if the points coil would work in a similar way with a stock configured Delco TI amp.

I’ve been around Delco coils for a long time but am not familiar with “air gapping” a coil. I must admit that is a great excuse for a coil failing. I’d be interested in his explanation.

Dave, Basically when the coil is installed in a bracket it is said to stand it off the intake a bit so there is "air" between the bottom edge of the coil can and the bracket. I too have NEVER heard of a Delco coil exhibiting this anomaly if it wasn't air gapped. Only the repros.

======

Summary:
I suspect that some repros work by "luck". I also suspect when they get too hot that it causes a internal heat expanded short in the windings. After cool down it would open, until the next heatup cycle.....repeat. Ken was very accommodating and offered to send me 2 new coils, but I deferred.

Quite unfortunately, in my opinion Ken's manufacturer had quality issues and it ruined the reputation of the product. All of Ken's electronic products were/are excellent with a great warranty. He had all his TI modules designed and made in the USA. He told me this himself. I suspect he couldn't get a US manufacturer to make the repro coils so he went overseas. Too bad. It would've been great if these were available from a US supplier. It's getting so hard to find good Delco TI coils.

I am saddened that Ken never got this resolved as it must have been a major headache for him. In some of our conversations, I suggested he get the suppliers to do temperature testing on the coils, but clearly it never happened. At least it would have screened out the bad ones. My guess it'd likely be a 50%(+) failure rate.

Rich

[James G.]

Re: TI coil; original vs. reproduction?

Thank you for the detailed explanation of the issues you encountered.

[Danny P.]

Re: TI coil; original vs. reproduction?

I know there are significant performance differences, but how about visual differences? I am under the impression that the repros have stainless contacts where the originals are non-stainless. Or have reproducers corrected that by now? Are there other visual differences? I've been lucky to have cars with original coils prior to this point. Now I need to know how I visually tell the difference. Thanks for your input.

Mike the AC Delco repo. Coil are made in China five out of one may work i wouldn’t trust a repro.Coil When they heat up they would just break down and cause engine to misfire and stall out , I would fine a good use Coil that’s been on car and you know it been working for awhile ,

[Joseph W.]

[Joseph W.]