Thanks for explaining the charts again for me Steve. I've learned a ton of ignition info over the last few days. charleymccraney, I'm going to use that coil adapter angle bracket, it's a great idea. Thanks for putting it up. 

Good idea Charlie. I have my oil filled pertronix mounted horizontally, I didn't want it mounted on the firewall. I'm going to make an angle bracket similar to yours and mount the coil vertically to it.

There are some vertical mount brackets available.  Here are some available through Summit, https://www.summitracing.com/search?SortBy=BestKeywordMatch&SortOrder=Ascending&keyword=vertical%20coil%20bracket 

Get the hottest igntion you can afford.  It will be a big improvement to overall driveability, particularly as temperatures get colder.  You can even make a bracket to mount an e-core in the stock location.

Here's an example.  This one is made out of 3/16" 3003 aluminum and bent in a vice with a bfh.  The one on the left is an old version which prevented the removal of the valve cover with the coil in place.  Plastic washers and bushings are installed to help isolate it from intake heat.  This setup has been in place for 8 years, daily driven, so it is reliable.







Lawrenceville, GA

Both of them show inductive ignitions - electronically fired by the exact same controller (not points). They trigger transistors that are way faster to gate than points. The rise and capacity shown are being governed by the coil design.  

The controller is using all of the dwell it can fit in. The higher resistance coils are slower at charging so in the time allowed, in-rush current is lower - therefore they hold less energy than the low resistance versions. To keep the old design coils from failing from the increased electrical energy, you typically have to degrade them even further by fitting a ballast resistor.  

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

Thanks for all the info, it's a bit overwhelming! My main goal is to get the ease and reliability of an electronic ignition and the matching coil that goes with it. I've pretty much, with all the information I have received, decided to go PerTronix II or III ignition and PerTronix II coil. I was good with that until I read that the oil filled coils should not be mounted horizontally, and of course that's exactly how my 58's is mounted. There are several opinions from very knowledgeable Y-block owners on the horizontal/ vertical  coil set-up, so I think what I'll do is make a bracket to mount the coil vertically or go with an epoxy coil. 
Greenbird56, am I correct that your top chart shows the sparks' power and duration of a point/ condenser ignition, and the lower chart, the sparks' power and duration of an electronic ignition? 
Thanks again for all the answers I'm getting!

Is the main idea to come up with a rugged canister style coil - or one that is compatible with the modern electronics?
The modern "E-Core" coils are a lot easier to come by in a low resistance / high temp configuration. The Pertronix III uses a low Ohm coil to maximize performance - but it will also operate the older higher resistance coils. The electronic "brain" (initially patented and offered by Motorola) uses its internal circuitry to fully "saturate" whatever coil you install on there. But......you only get the amount of "power" the coil can contain, it uses Amps to get the job done - not volts like a CD set-up. This control circuitry really puts a lot of load (heat)  on one of the older design canister coils , and if you wish for them to live - a ballast resistor is needed to keep the heat down - which then limits the performance to that of "yesteryear".

This trace (above) shows the amount of power stored in a 4.0 Ohm coil. It is essentially proportional to the area under the "curve". A point ignition can do this - dual points adds a little more area.
 
This trace (above) shows the power packed into a .50 Ohm coil by the transistor fired, induction ignition - like an HEI or Pertronix III controller utilizing a Motorola style operating scheme. It really needs a low resistance "E-Core" coil to handle the electrical load. That load would kill a set of points - or an earlier model Pertronix - so don't go there.
 
This is an "E-Core" coil for an S-10 v6 chebby motor - that is designed to be used with the modern electronics. They are quite in-expensive compared with the aftermarket parts - and deliver the same sort of jolt to the plugs.........

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

To be certain about the compatability between Pertronix Ignitors and coils, refer to Pertronix site.  You can download the instructions for each product and they have charts indicating which coil works with which ignitor.


Lawrenceville, GA

I checked out the PerTronix II epoxy filled coil and got a part number of 45111. It says on Summit Q and A that the 45111 can also be used as the coil for the PerTronix III electronic ignition conversion kit. 
DryLakesRacer, I didn't see the E-code 57 convertible, but I have seen a real nice pale blue or green 1957 Fairlane there before. I did see the red and white 58 retractable, the owner said it had a 352 and cruise o matic.

Greetings to all:  Both brands, Pertronix & MSD offer oil filled and epoxy filled canister coils. It's been said that oil filled coils may run hotter if mounted horizontally due to an air space above the coil core and the can and the epoxy coils are only a few $ more. I have been running a Flamethrower epoxy coil, 1.5 ohms primary fired by a Pertronix Ignitor ll and no ballast resistor for several years with no problems.       Hope this helps, JEFF...............................


64F100 57FAIRLANE500

It's usually stated in the product description if it is oil filled or epoxy.


Lawrenceville, GA