Coils Pinched

I have original Lucas Coils on my Roadster, but they are pinched and deformed because the former owner did squeeze them with the clamps..
Do you think this may harm the functionality somehow, perhaps in the future?
Thank you, Lorenzo

Lorenzo, the pinching of the body may or may not make a difference, but they are cheap to buy new, so I normally renew anyway.

dave M said:

Lorenzo, the pinching of the body may or may not make a difference, but they are cheap to buy new, so I normally renew anyway.

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is it still possible to get new Lucas originals as the stock ones?

I doubt it, but the reproduction ones look the same except for the Lucas logo and you can't really see this when they are on the bike.

If ya don't take care to place a spacer-washer in the coil clamps then the new set will be crimped too. Lucas coil have oil renewal hole-plug the new ones don't. If they still work pinched then your call to keep em or not but now must nip up to to the pinched dia. and live with those bimishes in your mind riding.

If they work they work ,go figure. But the clamp crimping force is only 2 ft. lbs. ! Soft allu-min-eee-um casing crushes but fast. :|

is there any chance to get original NOS Lucas?
I have found some on ebay, but I am wondering if they are new production and if the quality is consistent as the old ones

I think some of the Lucas stuff available now is made by another company that has bought the rights to the name, I'm not sure whether they do coils and if the quality is the same. What is your concern Lorenzo, are you worried about performance or the look/logo? Do you need 6volt coils or 12volt?

Hi Dave,
I am trying to keep the bike as stock as possible and having the NOS originals would be my best choice.. so, yes it is about the shape/finish/look/brand/originality and the rest..
also, I understand from the former posts that the newer Lucas repros may not have the same quality and this would be an issue..

I also heard about some german repros and I am wondering if they are good and keep the same look.. anyone had any experience with them?

I have a Commando Roadster 750 year 1973 and I am wondering if I should get the 6 volts or the 12 volts?

dave M said:

I think some of the Lucas stuff available now is made by another company that has bought the rights to the name, I'm not sure whether they do coils and if the quality is the same. What is your concern Lorenzo, are you worried about performance or the look/logo? Do you need 6volt coils or 12volt?

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As an alternative to Lucas blues, look for PVL coils - made in Germany and good quality.
I've seen some very pinched coils, but they still worked.

I've yet to have any issues with EMGO coils, but haven't done mega-miles on them yet, either - anybody know anything to the contrary?

I got a pair of Emgo when I went to the 6V coils for the Pazon. One of them failed within a year, but they were less than $30 ea., so not much of a loss. I took it apart and one of the wires had come loose from the + or - terminial, I forget. I soldered it back on and it's a spare in the junk box. For the price, unless you crawl up under the tank, you can't tell them from the originals. I'm sure the others, PVL and the German ones are fine, but for the price? Up to you.

The 2 ft-lbs is not much holding them in place, I've always wondered if a thin rubber gasket couldn't be put under the clamp to hold them better, but I haven't had any problems with them moving around.

Dave
69S

The coils can get pretty hot on long summer runs so rubber insulation may create hot spot that distorts insides, but prolly not. I quit following a lot of the mis-info in the manuals on torque values on stuff, like coils, after having them come loose on the fly and bang around till internal shorted to outer case which is tricky to remount insulated from frame a good ways from home to get back to. Btw I've found Lucas coils to get low on oil so used air compressor oil to top off.

Lorenzo,
I am looking at two coils in my hands at the moment, one is an original Lucas 12 volt coil that I took off a Commando project bike some time ago, the other is a 6volt aftermarket coil which I bought from RGM Motors. The RGM coil has no manufacturing logo or country of manufacture on it. It is about 5mm shorter in length and the alluminium ridge that retains the bakelite cap is slightly thicker. The Lucas coil has Lucas embossed on the bakelite top and has '17M12 and some other very small numbers on the bottom of the coils. As Hobot pointed out there is a flat-headed screw in the bakelite top Presumably for initial filling of oil. I believe it is virtually impossible to tell the difference between the two coils when they are on the bike.

I have used the RGM supplied coils on a number of bikes with no problems experienced. regarding 6 or 12 volts, I think it depends on whether you want to run electronic ignition or not. 6volt coils with points ignition require ballast resistors in the circuit and I personally think this is one more element that could go wrong, whereas a straight connection from points to 12volt coils would seem to me to be theoretically more reliable, however if you get an aftermarket wiring loom it will probably come with the wires for the ballast resistors and will need slight modification for either electronic ignition or points with direct 12volt coil connection.

Lorenzo,
Try the TriSpark coils. I've been through Lucas, PVL, Wat Yong and the TriSpark is a really good product. Bit more expensive but I think you can trust them. see their website for details.

The only problem of the tri-sparks is that you are loosing the old look of the Lucas coils..

ML said:

Lorenzo,
Try the TriSpark coils. I've been through Lucas, PVL, Wat Yong and the TriSpark is a really good product. Bit more expensive but I think you can trust them. see their website for details.

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I discovered that Norton Andover retails the PVL coils..
is there anyone who compared phisically the Lucas originals with the PVL coils?
Is there any slight difference in size or any other detail?

Lorenzo said:

The only problem of the tri-sparks is that you are loosing the old look of the Lucas coils..

ML said:

Lorenzo,
Try the TriSpark coils. I've been through Lucas, PVL, Wat Yong and the TriSpark is a really good product. Bit more expensive but I think you can trust them. see their website for details.

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Tri Spark has the original style coils too

Mine have been pinched for 30 odd years & still function perfectly. There will be plenty of other things to worry about.

Ian

I ran the original slightly pinched stock coils and thought they were just fine. But, when Gordon Jennings did his Great Coil Test article in the '70s and had the best results with K-mart automotive coils I went to the junkyard and found a pair of Ford coils and hung them from the stock coil mounts just to try it. Ugly, but a surprising huge difference in performance. You never know... I kept it like that for many years.

I like the clean open look under the tank of the dual tower Harley type coils. (Even though it isn't stock.) You can make a simple bracket which will tuck it up under the stock coil mounting bracket nicely.

Lorenzo said:

dave M said:

Lorenzo, the pinching of the body may or may not make a difference, but they are cheap to buy new, so I normally renew anyway.

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is it still possible to get new Lucas originals as the stock ones?

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I remembered this thread while browsing eBay.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/2-NOS-O-E-M- ... 43c413f21d