MTFCA Forum

My Kingston coils all work but I'm guessing that they are basically the same as the later kw coils . We have always done are own coils using the method spelled out in the vintage ford back in the 60s and it works well so I built a tester to take the bigger coils, can I use the same capacitors.

The potting material used in the original Kingston coils ,when cured ,turned out to be the hardness of a rock. Trying to chip away to replace a capacitor could ruin the entire coil. Since you stated that you have" done your coils before ", I'm sure you're relying on your experience..... Personally, I would rely on Woody 23 to properly redo your Kingston coils.

so I built a tester to take the bigger coils

Adjusting Kingston coils for equal and consistent firing time by actually measuring firing time (aka dwell time to fire spark method) can provided significantly improved engine performance compared to adjusting coils for the same average coil current. This has been proven true by numerous Ford, KW and Heinze coils users.

I have had two out for repair for four months.

I am being told the point sets are not available and no good, but new ones are being perfected.

Hello Colin,

You can use the cap’s offered by the vendors. You will need the low profile one to fit in the box. I found some issues with the Kingston points and in the process of making a few prototypes that will perform better.

I am still several months out but getting closer. I can tune the existing points to run better but I know I can make them run better. Without going into too much detail I found the Kingston tuning was being set pretty low which also makes them fire inconsistent and have about half the output they should.

They will fire and run your engine but there is a lot of room for improvement.

So more to come but I have been tuning these for anyone that is in need to keep their cars running.

I also make new tops since the old tops are typically warped.

Feel free to contact me for any additional info. I attached a photo os a recent set I replaced the caps, new points, new tops and tuned.

David Woods
Williamston T Works (Facebook)

According to an old post by R V Anderson:

"Heinze coils, for example, should have the vibrator tension set to draw between 0.6 and 0.8 amps; the early (�high-bridge�) Kingstons, about 0.7-0.8, and the later �low- bridge� type used in later 1911-early 12, about 0.85-1.0 amps. The Jacobson-Brandow Company recommended that their coils be set to draw 0.2 amps."

I copied his complete discussion. If anyone wants a copy email me direct.

rgould1910 "at" comcast.net

I have seen that post and ran coils at those settings. My findings where this will work and the car will run but they actually have a pretty low output, about half of a tuned KW coil. Almost off of these rebuilt coils ( Kingston, Hienze, Splitdorf and L&B) are now running with KW primary and secondary coils so why not set them to run as hot as KW?

I also found the only way to get these to fire consistently is to run them hotter. The lower settings allow them to double spark and drift, the feedback I get is very positive and typically hear the car never ran as well. Once I finish testing the new points I plan to put out an article explaining in more detail.

In the interim I can get the current version of points to run better but like I mentioned there is plenty of room for improvement.

This applies to all makes, early cars without a magneto are much easier to tune since most owners are running them on 12v batteries but early T’s running on mag add a little more challenge since I need to know the condition of the mag so I can set the coils accordingly. T magnetos ramp up to their peak voltage which will change with RPM’s so several things to consider when tuning for best performance.

Hope that makes sense.

David
Williamston T Works