Just put new coils on the SHO

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LJRuddy

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Back in the end of winter, I noticed a slight misfire during the first few minutes of driving after a cold start. As the weather got warmer, the almost non existant misfire turned into a noticeable hiccup at idle accompanied by dead zones in the rpm band most noticeable between 4,000 and 5,000 rpm. The car acted like it was pulling insane amounts of timing during that rpm 'zone'. So I went shopping for v8 coils.... God that was depressing.

Advance Auto wanted 90.99 each and NAPA wanted a crisp Benjamin per coil. So I started researching different coils online and on SHOForum and found that the mod motors had a coil that was compatible but there was no way of securing them to the SHO heads. I just happened to stumble upon Phoenix's classified ad where he was selling 8 Rally Performance coils for the 4.6 and 5.4 Fords. Picked them up for dirt cheap and they arrived today.

After letting the car sit in the garage with the hood up for 3 hours, I thought it was cool enough to tackle the coil and plug swap. Well, its 103 out and about 80% humidity so the engine was still at running temps. After spending 30 minutes with about 27 breaks, I was able to swap in the front 4 coils before I gave up until a cooler day arrived.

I swapped out the boots and reused the springs from the stock coils. I stretched them out a few extra mm to ensure a snug fit. This was to aid in the connection until I am able to fabricate a hold-down bracket/ground for the coils. As you can see, the bolt holes dont even come close to aligning.

IMAG0509

I think I found the coil that was causing my issues... One of these came out in a few pieces when I tugged it off of the spark plug. :nut:

IMAG0510


I drove the car with the 4 new coils up front for about 35 miles in 100 degree heat. The misfire is completely gone and the hesitation has decreased tenfold. I think I have a weak coil on the rear head still but I dont feel like sweating my balls off tonight anymore. Even with a worn front motor mount, the coils stayed put very well. I still intend on making a bracket though as I dont want one of them wiggling lose.

In short (lol not really) if you gen 3 guys are looking for a cheap substitute coil for your SHO, look into the mod motor coils. The ones on my car are part number DG-508
 
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NebraskaSHO

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Can you just reuse the 8mm bolts and use a small strap of aluminum across the coil? Or possibly a piece of plastic?
 

Phoenix

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Glad they are working fine for you.

If anyone wants these , they run for 79-100$ for a set of 8 on ebay.
 

kevinspann

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Can you just reuse the 8mm bolts and use a small strap of aluminum across the coil? Or possibly a piece of plastic?

It certainly looks that way from the top, unless they are like the duratec coils where the mounting heights are too different to do that.
 

LJRuddy

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Can you just reuse the 8mm bolts and use a small strap of aluminum across the coil? Or possibly a piece of plastic?

I plan to fabricate a piece of .080 aluminum across the top. I will mount that piece to the factory mounting holes in the head and then secure the coils with bolts. I'll then put a rubber bushing between the coils and the mounting plate
 

NebraskaSHO

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Cool. If you need some plastic I should have some at school about 1/8 or 1/4 thick. It's from an old machine.
 

illSHOyou

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If you take the valve covers off and purchase little round aluminium standoffs cut at a pre determined length/taped and then welded on. And there you go... New coil mounting point.
 
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Izzmo

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Oh damn, well that sucks.. wonder if he can chime in at least how they were before everything went south.
 
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BamSHO

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Ive been running Accel for over a year now. They are from the 4 valve 4.6 motors. They run $30 a piece and can get next day from the parts store if I have a failure.


Brian Michael
98 black Gen3
 

BamSHO

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Yes you have to modify. Need to swap boots, and trim the coil wire on the new Accel coil. They dont have the bolt hold downs on them, but I havent had any failures as of yet, and I do run it hard too, and have bad motor mounts, so I do have vibrations.



Brian Michael
98 black Gen3
 
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