Ignition coil placement / location

[Solly]

Hello Again,

 Still getting myself familiar with the 34 PE and curiosity is getting the best of me !! is there a reason the ignition coil was recessed in to the firewall  ? I have noticed this on several  models I'm wondering if there was a engineering reason for this as opposed to a bracket ?  may seem like a silly question but sometimes you just have to ask !!

 P/S no surprises on her so far solid as a rock . I'm getting better on my double clutching and shift points. Definitely finding out she prefers low RPM shifting and that seems ok as that little flathead seems to have more than enough torque she doesn't seem to lug even if I make a early shift to 3rd (impressive) 

 

[desoto1939]

with the coil in the firewall and the armored cable that connects to the back of the coil it sort of was an early theft prevention setup since would would have to cut the armored cable to jump the ignition wires.

 

They did find that this made it harder to start because of the extra length of wiring going to the dizzy. They then did move the coil down onto the bracket mounted on the side of the head.

 

Rich Hartung

desoto1939@aol.com

[TodFitch]

As Rich writes, it was an anti-theft feature making it hard to hot wire.

 

The cable from the ignition switch to the coil is very tough material which I found out early on when I had a switch/cable/coil assembly with a short in the cable portion and I thought I could cut off the cable and simply run a wire from the switch to the coil. That cable covering defeated the cheap hacksaw that I had at the time.

[Solly]

I guess it was not so silly a question after all !!  Makes sense !!  Thanks for the response gentleman !

[TodFitch]

3 hours ago, Solly said:

I guess it was not so silly a question after all !!  Makes sense !!  Thanks for the response gentleman !

That armored cable might still be a theft deterrent but I suspect that even if a modern thief could hot wire the coil they’d still have trouble starting the car.

 

I don’t know about the '34 Plymouth but on my '33 Plymouth none of the knobs are labeled and you have to get the choke and hand throttle at just the right engine temperature dependent positions to get the car to start easily. Assuming they get past the part where the ignition switch is simply on/off and the starter is a separate pedal on the floor. And then if they are under the age of maybe 50 they probably don’t know how to drive a manual transmission let alone one without synchronizers.

 

Much easier to steal it by winching it on to a flat bed and the armored cable between the coil and ignition switch won’t deter that.

[Sniper]

2 hours ago, TodFitch said:

And then if they are under the age of maybe 50 they probably don’t know how to drive a manual transmission let alone one without synchronizers.

A funny semi-related story when my oldest daughter, who is now 40, it's learning to drive I had an 87 Dodge Diplomat with a four-speed that I put in it so she learned to drive in a stick car. Years later after she had gotten married she was moving and had rented a big U-Haul nobody else there, I was 250 miles away, could drive a stick so she drove it and it was the biggest thing truck U-Haul rented. Well she called me up and said dad what am I doing wrong every time I shift gears it grinds the gears. I told her oh you're driving a non-synchronized gearbox. I never taught her how to shift one of those because I never thought to really. I tried to explain how to do it over the phone and she wasn't getting it So eventually I told her is it your truck? She said no and I said do you care about it? And she said no so I told her grind away, lol. Once she got in town and we unloaded her truck I showed her how to drive a non-synchronous gearbox in that U-Haul. Funny thing is is a couple years later she joined the army and became a mechanic it was the only mechanic who could drive a stick

[Solly]

Yup ,

Its a process, my knobs are labeled with C and T on the 34 but still,  ignition ( key ) on until I see the gauges jump , pull choke and throttle , trans to neutral  depress  clutch pedal , depress starter pedal.  So far I’m lucky she pops right off  takes a minute to smooth out after choke deactivated , then throttle lowered, then finally hand brake released and away we go !!   When I took my daughter for a ride she quipped you need a check list like a pilot !! But I absolutely love the nostalgia of it all . Went for a night ride yesterday and remembered to turn off head lights but then remembered I left the instrument lights on ( separate toggle switch from headlamp switch ) avoided a dead battery in morning . All part of the package !!  I got exactly what I’ve wanted for so long and loving it !! 
 Not sure a thief would have the patience, these may not be the vehicles for people in a hurry.

 As far as the transmission you are correct good luck on that !! It was actually. My oldest sister that taught me manual on her 65 Mustang . The non synchro trans is a challange but after a few weeks of practice i finally have the hang of it . 
 

 P/S everyone have a safe and happy holiday season!!