Heinze coils and coil box question 1912 early 13

[Mark Gregush]

My understanding is the letters on the coils, K&I in this case, tell which slot the coil fit into, having a left and right side offset. Were the 1912 early 13 coil that way? Or is the lettering just left over has no meaning? The 4 coils I am working with, the contacts are all centered. So before I get too deep in rebuilding them, need to know if I need to look for other coil to use. I don't have the coil box to look myself right now.

[TWrenn]

Now I'd have to go downstairs and look but I'm positive all 4 of my '13 Heinze coils have the letter K on them. And the bottom contact is off-center. I have no idea if any Heinze were not off-center, but RV can tell us.

[Mark Gregush]

Sorry should be more clear, the contacts on the side of the coils. I am meeting with the guy that am working on the coils for, he is bringing the coil box with him. I will then be able to see for my self. (trying to same someone a trip out into the cold )
more on info on my question;
http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/82 ... 1519919768
and more;
https://mtfca.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=9287
Now I know. Well I think I do!

[R.V.Anderson]

The photos below show the coils and their stencils, beginning with the first and ending with the last. The early "offset" coils, with one thick side, were used in 1911 and possibly late '10. The thick side was made that way so as to accommodate the mortise and tenon used early on, after the contact spikes on the coils used on the Ford Models R & S were dropped ; after awhile the M & T was also dropped but the thick side remained for at least a year. Since the coil units are installed with the thick sides together, that makes the early Heinze boxes the only ones that required the coils to be in pairs. The early units were stenciled M--F at first, which corresponded with "male" and "female" M & T joints; after the joint was dropped the stenciling changed to L--R, presumably for left & right (first photo). Still later, it changed to Y--Z (second photo). I don't know the significance of those letters. Once the thick side was gone, and the coils were more uniform, for 1912 the stenciled letter was a simple, elongated upper case I. When, in late '12, the design of the vibrator base changed (the ratchet post was moved toward the rear of the coil and the ratchet spring changed to being mounted at about a 45 degree angle), the shape and size of the I changed to a more squat appearance with pronounced crossbars (both seen in the second photo). Then for very late '12 and '13, the design of the ratchet nut changed to a style which limited the amount of adjustment to about 1-1/2 turns, lock to lock. At that time the stenciled letter changed to a large upper case K. The K continued on, although in a slightly different style, after they changed to a totally different style of points and case design at or about the time of Ford's standardization on the KW design, although the overall case dimensions and contact locations stayed the same. The last coil in the wood-box era was stencilled with an "X". When Heinze began producing the "standardized" coils in 1914, the physical size of coils became the same as the familiar KW/Ford coils, and most of those coils were stenciled with an "O" (not pictured), though some had an A as shown below in the last photo (hard to see). I am working on an article for the magazine which details all these changes, with many photos and more in-depth information.

[Mark Gregush]

Thanks for the photos. I sent you an email with couple of questions about style of points for July 1912 car. I did read the post that I linked to about the whys of the letters. I like the one I have with I 1/2? Maybe middle of the shift?
Mark

[Original Smith]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Your future article will be most welcome.

[AndreFordT]

Thanks R.V. for sharing your knowledge.

I have a few photos of the 1914 Heinze coils I rebuiled a while ago.

Andre
Belgium

[It's Bill]

Thank you, RV!