Discussion
Powers use the coil packs from a P38 Range Rover with their MBE ECU.
They mount behind the plenum well out of the way.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RANGE-ROVER-P38-4-0-4-6V...
They mount behind the plenum well out of the way.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RANGE-ROVER-P38-4-0-4-6V...
Classic Chim said:
Hide them, how often are you expecting to touch them? I dont like seeing them in the engine bay personally, looks a bit nasty and aftermarket!
P38, good choice
Here’s a thing, mine are directly below the wiper mesh but don’t get wet from rain!
Not planning on touching them there a bit boring and there's much better things to play withP38, good choice
Here’s a thing, mine are directly below the wiper mesh but don’t get wet from rain!
So yep I think the behind the plenom may work
No rain will hit it on mine as I will be going too fast jester:
You know what,,, I’m fearing your not wrong. 
It’s gonna fly
But until then 12.759 on road tyres trumps 12.783
Are you installing the Emerald yourself Pete.
Do a thread on here with a few pics would be really good.
I’ve looked at Rich photos with a mate earlier, no interior and an alarm and Ecu change going on, things overtook me and I barely took a photo of detailed areas of the work that a good few friends helped Rich achieve which is such a shame.
It’s gonna fly
But until then 12.759 on road tyres trumps 12.783
Are you installing the Emerald yourself Pete.
Do a thread on here with a few pics would be really good.
I’ve looked at Rich photos with a mate earlier, no interior and an alarm and Ecu change going on, things overtook me and I barely took a photo of detailed areas of the work that a good few friends helped Rich achieve which is such a shame.
Edited by Classic Chim on Sunday 26th November 20:54
jojackson4 said:
Thanks gents
That’s No1 out of the way
Wide band next
Don't discount using good old tried and tested Ford coil packs... That’s No1 out of the way
Wide band next
They are cheap, readily available everywhere and super reliable.. typically you would fit them in a cooler place than the Range Rover coil pack too, keep in mind excessive heat is the enemy of any coil.
Most of the Range Rover crowd fitting MegaSquirt ect will shy away from the Range Rover coil packs on the grounds they don't have the best reputation for reliability, admittedly the RR mounting is super neat looking but trapping them down the back of the engine between the hot cylinder heads and the bulkhead is far from ideal if you ask me. On a Chimaera putting the coils where Land Rover put them on the Rangie means they're under the TVR's lower screen grill, so they could get water dripping onto them, there's also little or no airflow so anything you put there will likely be subjected to heat soak in the summer months, and it's no secret a Chimaera will put out more heat in that area than a Range Rover due to the TVR exhaust manifold design.
My personal opinion is a bit of airflow around the coil packs is preferable for reliability, if you look where Ford (and pretty much every other car maker) put their coil packs you'll see they follow the same thinking, and for good reason, only the boys at Land Rover chose to stuff their coil packs down the back of the engine.
You can buy a nice 'free air' placement Ford coil pack bracket for the Rover V8 from this guy....
https://www.megasquirt-v8.co.uk/index.php
Ford used this type of coil pack (Ford part number 1008886) globally throughout the 1990's on pretty much all their models from the little Ka to the 4.6 litre V8 Mustang, millions of cars run them with fantastic proven reliability, in all applications you'll see them mounted where there's good airflow, they are never trapped between the engine and the bulkhead. You can buy these Ford type coil packs made by NGK which are very high quality Japanese units for just £37 each, so £74 for the two you need for your Rover V8, the NGK part number is U2005.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-NGK-Coil-Pack-Part-...
Here's where they're mounted on my Chimaera, a location that gives excellent airflow, especially when compared with trapping in the hot airless environment behind the engine ...
The above is an old photo before I fitted the MSD version of this ubiquitous Ford coil pack, the MSD part number is 8241 and are a common upgrade among owners of mid 90's 4.6L V8 Mustangs over the pond. Speaking to the MSD tech team I was told to get the best from them I really need to tweak my dwell, but this actually makes them ideal for the aftermarket ECU crowd as you should find there's dwell setting feature in your software (I run the Canems system that has this).
Here's the spec of the MSD 8241coil:
- Turns ratio: 83:1
- Primary resistance: .53 OHMs
- Secondary resistance: 13.7K OHMs
- Inductance: 3.9mH
- Maximum voltage: 40,000 Volts
Sorry, not a great photo but here it is all the same.
MSD aside and the generally the cooler mounting position this type of coil pack affords, I like the Ford type coil packs because I know wherever I am when I'm touring across Europe, I can pop into any motor factors and pick up two coils packs as easy as that by referencing any mid to late nineties Ford Escort or Mk1 Ka... ect ect ect ect.
If I'm really stuck there are literally thousands of Ford main dealers across Europe that would sell me two Ford part number 1008886 coils and I'll be back on the road within hours, try that in deepest France if your heat soaked Range Rover coils decide to give up the ghost
jojackson4 said:
Well put dave
Yours look like there hung off the plenum over the top of the Old dizzy ?
Like you say the RR stick pack is very neat
Has any off the chim boys had bother with the RR packs ????
This part of the upgrade (ECU) is all stuff I haven’t had any dealings with so it all new
We generally only get to hear the dirt in the motor trade Yours look like there hung off the plenum over the top of the Old dizzy ?
Like you say the RR stick pack is very neat
Has any off the chim boys had bother with the RR packs ????
This part of the upgrade (ECU) is all stuff I haven’t had any dealings with so it all new
and I know of the row of 4 coil packs to be a problem when the Range Rover 4.0/4.6 was current with big mileage then old age but there are plenty on here using these so called troubled coil packs with no problem Peter has been using an Intermotor version for a long period with no problem a brand I wouldnt normally piss on so just maybe the poor reliability thing is a bit out of proportion 
but ChimpOnGas is right about those early barbed generation 1 Ford coil packs they are rock solid just a shame they cant be tucked away mine as run 2 s/hand genuine Ford coils removed from 2 94/95 Mondeo's since about 2011 and my brothers Chimaera the same KA/Escort or similar 
the GM coil packs above are early Astra MK3 and the Bosch style ones possibly Citroen/Peugeot Edited by Sardonicus on Monday 27th November 12:10
Another good thing about using the ford coil packs is, depending on your chosen coil location, you can use Mk1 Ford Ka HT leads, these are pre-made off the shelf items with the correct coil pack ends professionally crimped on them at the factory. This means if you burn an HT lead away from home a set of Mk1 Ford Ka leads will be easy and cheap to source, putting you back on all eight in no time.
Saying that, I made up my own MSD Superconductor leads which I really rate, these quality USA made HT leads are vastly superior in every respect to the dreadful (and expensive) Magnecor KV85 rubbish I had on the car before. You can easily make up your own HT lead set using the Ford type coil ends which are available at reasonable cost from the same Megasquirt guy who offers the Rover V8 coil bracket I linked to in my previous post, just add a universal MSD Superconductor V8 lead set from Summit Racing in the States and you're good to go.
The MSD Superconductor plug ends are extremely heat resistant in their own right, again vastly superior to Magnecors in this respect. I then went OTT and added MSD Pro-Heat Guard Sleeve over the HT ledt plug ends and then DEI Titanium Protect-A-Boots over the lot.
Here's my double wrapped plug end arrangement:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=12...
The system has seen a number of years of hard use running exclusively on difficult to strike LPG which soon killed the rubbish Magnecor KV85s in just a few thousand miles, even with the heat protection of socks I literally blew the things apart in deepest France. The MSD Superconductors are in a different league altogether and have been 100% reliable, as have the MSD coil packs even though they are all components suffering a much harder life because I burn gas.
I'm sure the Range Rover coils are Ok, it's just my personal preference it to fit coils an area that's less prone to high temps and water ingress when it rains, saying that I'm sure others have had no issues with RR coil choice and it is a rather neat setup. Personally I think mine are neat too as they sit where the dizzy once did so it's still nice and central and the lead routing is almost exactly as it was originally.
Horses for courses, but hopefully you can see there are a number of very good arguments why you may wish to choose the Ford coil packs over the Range Rover option, others may disagree but I'm definitely sticking with my proven Ford/MSD setup...
Finally a word of warning:
As previously stated.... AVOID! the much hyped Magnecor KV85 HT leads which I've proved will fail even when running extenders and then protecting them with socks too, I thought I was buying top quality leads but as it turns out they were utter junk, you've been warned!
Forget the guarantee too, the guy that sells them will not refund you if/when they fail, you can probably get away with using them on the original feeble distributor and single coil ignition system, but go to 40,000v wasted spark coil packs and they will definitely be on their limit.
LPG sorts the men from the boys when it comes to ignition components, if my chosen MSD parts work reliably on 'Ol Gasbag' you can definitely consider them over specified on any Chimaera burning petrol....
Saying that, I made up my own MSD Superconductor leads which I really rate, these quality USA made HT leads are vastly superior in every respect to the dreadful (and expensive) Magnecor KV85 rubbish I had on the car before. You can easily make up your own HT lead set using the Ford type coil ends which are available at reasonable cost from the same Megasquirt guy who offers the Rover V8 coil bracket I linked to in my previous post, just add a universal MSD Superconductor V8 lead set from Summit Racing in the States and you're good to go.
The MSD Superconductor plug ends are extremely heat resistant in their own right, again vastly superior to Magnecors in this respect. I then went OTT and added MSD Pro-Heat Guard Sleeve over the HT ledt plug ends and then DEI Titanium Protect-A-Boots over the lot.
Here's my double wrapped plug end arrangement:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=12...
The system has seen a number of years of hard use running exclusively on difficult to strike LPG which soon killed the rubbish Magnecor KV85s in just a few thousand miles, even with the heat protection of socks I literally blew the things apart in deepest France. The MSD Superconductors are in a different league altogether and have been 100% reliable, as have the MSD coil packs even though they are all components suffering a much harder life because I burn gas.
I'm sure the Range Rover coils are Ok, it's just my personal preference it to fit coils an area that's less prone to high temps and water ingress when it rains, saying that I'm sure others have had no issues with RR coil choice and it is a rather neat setup. Personally I think mine are neat too as they sit where the dizzy once did so it's still nice and central and the lead routing is almost exactly as it was originally.
Horses for courses, but hopefully you can see there are a number of very good arguments why you may wish to choose the Ford coil packs over the Range Rover option, others may disagree but I'm definitely sticking with my proven Ford/MSD setup...
Finally a word of warning:
As previously stated.... AVOID! the much hyped Magnecor KV85 HT leads which I've proved will fail even when running extenders and then protecting them with socks too, I thought I was buying top quality leads but as it turns out they were utter junk, you've been warned!
Forget the guarantee too, the guy that sells them will not refund you if/when they fail, you can probably get away with using them on the original feeble distributor and single coil ignition system, but go to 40,000v wasted spark coil packs and they will definitely be on their limit.
LPG sorts the men from the boys when it comes to ignition components, if my chosen MSD parts work reliably on 'Ol Gasbag' you can definitely consider them over specified on any Chimaera burning petrol....
heats only really generated when stationary and only then a problem.
Right behind the Y piece and surrounded on both sides by hot manifolds isn’t going to give coil packs an easy time.
Bolting them to a heat soak area as in the plenum, also not the best for heat.
Clearly where mine are is the best place for them
It’s not very hot, it’s high up and contrary to suggestion don’t get wet.
Wiring is safe and as the leads are coming from right behind the engine only the length they need to be which is shorter,,,,,, and cooler running
That’s what I think anyway
Buy Dom’s leads as they are the biz and stick your ceramics on them. JD for years. And look awesome. All in my humbling opinion
Your plenum when running along is stone cold as rapid cold air flow hits it, it only gets hot when you are stationary or driving slowly so my coil packs are right behind it and don’t get hot.
There’s a reason for everything and most of what I read says the RR coilpacks
are infact very long lasting so I don’t get that one.
Right behind the Y piece and surrounded on both sides by hot manifolds isn’t going to give coil packs an easy time.
Bolting them to a heat soak area as in the plenum, also not the best for heat.
Clearly where mine are is the best place for them
It’s not very hot, it’s high up and contrary to suggestion don’t get wet.
Wiring is safe and as the leads are coming from right behind the engine only the length they need to be which is shorter,,,,,, and cooler running
That’s what I think anyway
Buy Dom’s leads as they are the biz and stick your ceramics on them. JD for years. And look awesome. All in my humbling opinion
Your plenum when running along is stone cold as rapid cold air flow hits it, it only gets hot when you are stationary or driving slowly so my coil packs are right behind it and don’t get hot.
There’s a reason for everything and most of what I read says the RR coilpacks
are infact very long lasting so I don’t get that one.
Edited by Classic Chim on Monday 27th November 17:02
Edited by Classic Chim on Monday 27th November 17:04
Edited by Classic Chim on Monday 27th November 17:11
I have run the P38 type row of coil packs for about 4 years now and have not had any problems.
As Simon has said, it was a cheap aftermarket Intermotor part for about 70 quid and hasn't failed.
But just because I can, I am fitting a new NGK coil pack that I have sourced from eBay for about £145.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-NGK-Coil-Pack-Part-...
Here is the original Intermotor item in place nearly 4 years ago.
As Simon has said, it was a cheap aftermarket Intermotor part for about 70 quid and hasn't failed.
But just because I can, I am fitting a new NGK coil pack that I have sourced from eBay for about £145.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-NGK-Coil-Pack-Part-...
Here is the original Intermotor item in place nearly 4 years ago.
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