Installing A Lucas Sport Coil

Original Question:

Date: Tue, 6 Oct 98 07:40:50 -0000
From: canada
Subject: TR6--Lucas Sports Coil

Hi, Listers--

I'm thinking of installing a Lucas Sports Coil in my 76 TR6. I've been advised that I need to terminate (tape) the leads of the 2 wires attached to my old coil and run a new white wire to the Sports coil from the fuse box. Since I try not to do anything on this car without multiple opinions, I'd like to know if this all sounds like the right way to do this.

Thanks.

Ian CF57345U

Responses:

Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1998 07:47:39 EDT
From: Wayne Rengrave
Subject: Re: TR6--Lucas Sports Coil

I have a Lucas Sport Coil ordered from TRF, they told me I will have to disconnect the + wire which is a "resistor" wire that runs from the wire harness to the + side of original coil. They told me to bend it back and tape it and run a brand new "non-resistor" wire from the bottom of the fuse box to the + side of the new Sport Coil. Gap on plugs can be increased from .025" to .030" and point gap can also be increased to 17 or 18.

Wayne from Massachusetts (waiting for Sport Coil)
1973 TR6 Mallard/New Tan

Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1998 21:19:39 EDT
From: Dan Masters
Subject: Re: TR6--Lucas Sports Coil

Ian,

You are correct in that the ballast resister needs to be bypassed. You can remove and terminate the wires that are on you existing coil, but it is not necessary. I recomend that you leave them there, as there is much less danger of them coming loose and shorting against something.

There are two easy ways to bypass the resister. The first is to connect the coil to the white wires at the fuse box with a new piece of wire, as was suggested to you. Be sure to route the wire very carefully, following the routing of the existing harness as much as possible, and use plenty of tie wraps for support.

Another way may be possible, even easier than the first. If you have a starter relay, which most '76 models do, you will find a white/yellow wire attached to the relay. This is the other end of the white/yellow wire you have at the coil. Just pull this wire from the relay and terminate it on one of the spare lugs at the white wires on the fuse box. If you don't have a spare terminal, redo one of the white wire connections to include the white/yellow wire.

When you start the car, the starter relay energizes the white/yellow wire, bypassing the ballast resister. What you are doing by re-locating the W/Y wire to the fuse box is just permanently bypassing the ballast resister.

For more info on this, see:

http://www.vtr.org/maintain/ballast.html

Dan Masters,
Alcoa, TN