High output coil

The hotter the better!! Your engine will run cleaner and more efficiently. Is it electronic ignition or is it points? Let me know. Brad

Can someone make a recommendation for what high performance coil to buy? Thanks

After upgrading to a Mallory Unilite distributor I found myself learning about ballast resistors, if I'm remembering right you can use any Hi-performance coil for points, some coils say electronic ignition and some say points coil, it's all about the internal resistance of the coil. I think all you need is to equal around 3.0 or more ohms for points, ballast resistor/coil-internal resistance.

For my Unilite it's at least 1.5 ohms, the Blaster 2 coil I use has .7 internal resistance so I use a .8 ohm ballast resistor to give about 1.5 ohms for the coil to see which the Unilite module is connected to. I think Pertronix needs to see 1.5 or more ohms too.

MSD Blaster, mallory, they all advertise about 45,000 volts, just add up the internal resistance of the coil and have a ballast resistor value to equal 3 ohms or a little more.

yeah thats the one. yes i did the electronic conversion.highly recomend it. but im thinking 89 doesnt have points. right?

I run a D.U.I. set up it works great, and the clear cap looks pretty cool.   http://www.performancedistributors.com/
Cheak them out!!             Brad

882001 - assuming that the previous two owners didn't swap points for electronic, my '89 originally had points. Did you have do do any ohm/ballast resister stuff similar to captan1?

captan1 - This ohm stuff is a little tough to digest. But I'm getting that the resistance of the coil must match the conversion kit.. And I might need to add a ballast resister to compensate for mismatched coil/conversion kit resistance.. Is that correct??

Brad - Great link.. A very nice looking and simple product.

Check this out.
I took this from the pertronix web site, this is what kind of educated me on the whole amperage requirement...

What type of coil can I use with the Ignitor™? How do I check my coils resistance? (12V negative ground only)

To determine if your systems coil is compatible with the Ignitor, some measurements should be taken prior to installation of the Ignitor. Caution… While performing this test, never leave the ignition switch on for more than 30 seconds at a time.
Set your voltmeter to a 15 or 20-volt scale. Attach an 18 or 20 AWG jumper wire from the negative coil terminal to an engine ground. Attach positive (red) lead of your voltmeter to the positive side of the coil, and the negative (black) lead to an engine ground. Turn the ignition switch to the run position. Now read the voltage at the positive coil terminal. Turn the ignition switch off. If the voltage measured is approximately 12 volts, no resistance wire is present. A typical resistance wire will provide 9 - 6 volts.
The next step is to determine the resistance in the primary ignition. Label the wires attached to the coil terminals and note their appropriate location. Make sure that the ignition switch is off and disconnect all wires from the coil. Adjust your meter to the lowest ? ohm scale. If you are using an analog style meter make sure to zero the needle. Measure from the negative terminal to the positive terminal. Write your measurement down.
Now the maximum system amperage can be determined, divide your voltage measurement by your coil resistance measurement. This will give you the system current or amperage.
Four cylinder engines should not exceed 4 amps. Six and eight cylinder engines should not exceed 8.5 amps. If the total amperage in your system is higher than the amount recommended for your application, you should install a ballast resistor.
Example Voltage 12
Resistance 1.5
12 / 1.5 = 8
Total amperage 8

Confusing as hell, read it about 10 times and it can be followed.

I had to buy a reverse gear for the D.U.I.. I bought it from Jegs. It was not hard to change or set up my D.U.I. .   Brad

in the conversion kit it should have had instructions on how to test the voltage simular to what capt1 posted. If you did not follow them then you are going to shorten the life of the electronics and/or coil no mater what coil, ballast resistor, conv kit you use. It all boils down to system resistance (sp) and voltage. The ballast resistor is to protect the electronics or points which ever the case maybe. The resistance of the coil windings is what determinds the output voltage of the coil not the voltage going to it, thats why they will list what the coil resistance should be for the system and you should follow the manufactures specification because almost every model and brand are different. Most conversion kits say you can bypass the ballast resistor IF THE RESTISTANCE READS X ohms if not then you have to add a ballast resistor or change the coils resistance so that you have X ohms of resistance.

So long story short read the instructions and if you don't understand them then read then again and again and again until you do or find someone that does understand the testing procedure. Because there is one major difference between a point dist. and a electronic dist.

A motor with a point distributor will let you know when it is about to go out and you can limp back to the dock. An electronic dist will just quit in a snap of the fingers and you'll have to be towed backed so read the instructions and follow them or have a tow boat on standby.

You should be ok with the timing where it's at, the more timing the better, to an extent that is without creating a ping under load or hard accelleration. Flip the motor box up and take it for a spin and open her up all of the way from a dead stop or idle and listen for a ping/spark knock. If you hear one then back down the time a little.