I just got my rebuilt coils back from Ron Patterson. Wow, what a difference. The car now starts and runs fine, no more intermittent miss, and great power on the hills. The freshly rebuilt engine now runs like a freshly rebuilt engine should. Thanks, Ron, great job!
The day we hauled T's to the set of Leatherheads I was hauleing a 26-7 touring that belonged to another club member.A set of Ron patterson coils just came by mail just as I drove the car on the trailer.I installed them,it seemed as if I was unloading a different car.Ran much better and consistant.
When I got my '26 Touring, I had to constantly tinker with my coils to get my car to run even close to normal.
Bought and installed a set of Ron's coils. I've NEVER taken them out of the coil box since I installed them. That was twelve years ago.
Thank you Ron.
Mike, I've taken my Coilman coils out of the coil box numerous times....usually to demonstrate to bystanders how a good running T's ignition system works! I also thank Ron for his coils, advice, and his friendship.
Noel
I rebuilt my own, but only with the advice and help of Ron. Couldn't have done it nearly as well without his words of wisdom.
Ron did 5 coils for me. one for another car..good gosh,best money I ever spent on the T.
I was at a auction this summer and saw 4 coils,yep Ron had done those coils...I bought them.They had been sitting for some time..dident matter..work perfect!
Hi Guys
I appreciate the kind comments, but there is no “secret formula”. They made 15,000,000 Model T’s and 70,000,000 ignition coils, you simply have to understand how they worked and get them right.
I have a theory about the genius of Model T coil complaints:
In the late 1930’s and early 1940’s when Model T’s fell into disuse no one wanted to bother with them. The older fellows who had Model T maintenance experience were looking to the newer technology and the hand cranked coil testers, which every garage in the country had in 1920 were relegate to the junk pile (at worst) or the archive (at best).
Now along comes the late 1950’s and early 1960’s with a resurgence of Model T’s. The old coils worked like crap because of normal wear and no one knew how to make them work as originally intended.
The old timers who knew how to make the coils work properly were long gone, the hand cranked coil testers were nowhere to be found and the Model T hobby hue and cry was “original ignition coils will not work and you have to install a distributor to make a Model T run correctly”. In their defense, Model T owners simply wanted to drive and enjoy their Model T’s I believe many threw up their hands dealing with pesky coils and installed a distributor declaring victory. What they overlooked was the original Model T ignition system is fundamentally the same as a single point distributor system only the parts are organized differently and then there was that pesky “magneto”
In the Mid 1990’s a few of us got together, understood the problems with Model T ignition coils and learned how to make them work correctly. John Regan and I declare a small credit for pushing this change; others have followed and are now adherents. During this same time is when the resurgence of the hand cranked coil tester and its use became commonly understood. Since then hand cranked coil testers have come out of the woodwork, now you commonly see them and their value is usually reflected in asking prices because of the usefulness of this tool to any Model T owners. There is also the Strobo-Spark coil tester which has some additional benefits for the non-technical person who simply wants to properly maintain their coils without as hernia. The battery or transformer powered buzz box coil testers have fallen by the wayside because of their ineffective test criteria. By the late 1990’s there were many converts who recognized Ford did not make 15,000,000 cars with a dysfunctional ignition system and all you needed to do was simply what Ford Service originally suggested. Then the commonly failed magneto’s showed up and then folks who understood how to correct those problems became common too.
Today most folks understand that the original Model T Ford ignition system works as well or better than any conversion if properly maintained. There are numerous fellows out there, who now understand the nuances of coil rebuilding, but the competent ones all follow the same rules; as I said in the beginning you simply have to understand how coils worked and get them right.
This discussion, of course, exempts the speedster crowd who are seeking a different experience than stock Model T enthusiasts.
Ron the Coilman
Ron, Thank you for the explanation.
Henry was right. Ford returned to one coil per cylinder in the last ten years
Then, again, my boat-tail has timer, coils, and a working magneto. I intend to keep it that way.
Thank you Ron, for all you have done for the hobby.
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2
My next speedster will have coils. I want it to be the way it was originally. The distributor is nice, but the coils are more authentic.
Many thanks to Ron and John and others.
I have Rons rebuilt coils in both of my 1925's. There is nothing to worry about with them in the coilbox.
I see spell check changed my misspelled word genesis to genius and I did not catch it.