I have a 1959 Hillman Minx which runs on positive earth. The car never came with a distributor cap/HT leads/coil. I've sourced a cap for the distributor (push in type leads), HT leads but I was wondering whether or not I could use a modern coil with the car.
Do I have to purchase a special coil because it is positive earth? Or can I use a normal modern coil but reverse the polarity (attach the neg terminal to the pos wire and vice versa)?
Bryan.
Yup. Simply reverse the low tension terminals. But it might make more sense to convert it to negative earth so you can use a modern radio or electronic ignition etc. If it's got a dynamo, the cost is near zero.
Thanks Dave, I think I will convert it to negative earth in due course. I just want to get the engine running at the moment to see how bad it is.
Bryan.
-- Bryan Lurring snipped-for-privacy@ntlworld.com
1959 Hillman Minx :
If you do go for neg earth don't forget to reverse the polarity of the dynamo field coil. Just takes a touch of 12v in the right direction. Of course the battery terminals will be in the wrong place so maybe get a more modern one.
Just to make it clear to anyone else picking up on this thread on a posative earth car the connector on the coil marked + connects to the contct breaker, the - connector connects to wire from the ignition switch/
: Do I have to purchase a special coil because it is positive earth? Or can I : use a normal modern coil but reverse the polarity (attach the neg terminal : to the pos wire and vice versa)?
That will work, but the spark will travel the wrong direction because you will have reversed the polarity of the HT side. Whether this matters for the average classic seems doubtful: all 2CV's have one spark going the wrong way and it doesn't seem a big issue for them.
Ian
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