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Old 03-13-2014, 10:14 AM   #129
Bruce Lancaster
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: Madison, NJ
Posts: 5,230
Default Re: Harmon Collins Rotors ?????

Well, by the late '50's Small block Chevy drag cars were getting up towards 7,000 RPM with points (often single points, not even the Corvette duals) and a single coil. Improvements in coil capacity had probably already made the dual coil setup obsolete while the HC was still in production, certainly for the flathead RPM range. It is still an interesting and cool approach to what was once a problem.
Ford adopted the expensive Mallory dual point design in '32, because 8 cylinders spinning past 4,000 was a problem for the coils of that day and the Mallory overlap system gave the needed extra range for that problem...again, circumstances that ceased to be a problem as coils improved.
Yes, there is no reason for this contraption when a good stock crab and a "modern" coil ("Modern" here meaning 50 year old tech rather than 70) can handle all needs and any desire for more flash can be handled better with 30 year old HEI with CD tech cheaper...
The HC remains COOL, as does a magneto, even though there isn't much reasonable excuse for their continued existence...
For more muddled thought, how come no interest in the old 59 based dual coils...a simpler and more elegant DC conversion in comparison with the tower of bad plastic riddled with cross fire points that is the HC...?
And whyinhell antique, scarce, and expensive mag points designed for Clinton lawnmowers long before I was born??
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