I'm putting on an open air element cleaner and everywhere around here warns in big red letters not to let it touch the "COIL WIRES."

Are these just the wires that go from the distributor to the spark plugs, or is it something else?

Thanks!

 

Probably the wire going from the distributor cap to the coil.

 

What's the coil? The ignition coil?

 

Yes. There is a wire in the middle of the distributor cap that goes to the coil. The coil also has other wires going to it as well.

The red part "Mallory" is the coil:

 

Awesome, thanks a mill!

 

The reason for the warning - most folks use a 14 in air cleaner housing for the open element, and they have a tendency to touch a plug wire on the distributor - after so long of this, the sharp edge of the chrome housing can rub though a plug wire, and thus short out and cause ignition issues.

I had the problem - I switched to a 9in housing, now no problem.