A: #1, don't leave the key on with the motor not running! (it also burns out points) #2, get a cheapie Dodge ignition resistor and attach it to the aftermarket coil of your choice. (running a non-resistored coil on 12VDC will cause running troubles as the points heat up) If you have the Chev style starter with 2 smaller studs, one will pickup 12 volts while cranking and the other is the one that makes it crank over when energized. Hook a wire to the pickup contact so it goes past the resistor to the coil to boost power while cranking (that's what Chev and Ford did. I often had people complain about being hard to start after replacing their starter and found the wire off due to not having the extra stud. Even worse was when they just hooked them all to one contact and wondered why their motor suddenly couldn't rev!) Subject: Ignition coil exploded To: mail@xxxxxxxxxxxx Message-ID: <OF48533438.08C74DB9-ON85256F3E.00140C89-85256F3E.0014A839@xxxxxxxxxx> From: Colin J Brodsky <cbrodsky@xxxxxxxxxx> Date: Sat, 30 Oct 2004 23:45:35 -0400 Rather surprising noise in the driveway with my '63 Rambler Classic today... heard an explosion sound that at first sounded and looked like a radiator cap that blew, but once I opened up the hood, I found the ignition coil was blazing hot and apparently ruptured. I have recently been through two ignition coils but both were old and I didn't know the history of them. The car has not been driven a lot; one lasted for quite some time and then the other died after a few days. A new replacement exploded today - I had left the key in the on position without cranking for about 3 hours. I'm now wondering if a '63 rambler classic needs a ballast resistor added to it to prevent this? I thought the wire to the coil was resistance wire and it wasn't needed. The other coil that died quickly also seemed to be when I was working on the car and had left the key on quite a bit. Seems like that is overheating the coil. Any other possible causes? The car starts and runs fine other than blowing up the coils! -Colin