Hey guys I have an 87 Formula 350 and just found out i have a bad coil. Do our cars have coils and pickup coils or is that just some termanology? Please explain. I just replaced what I thought was the coil (where the coil wire leads from the distributer) and found out that was my problem. I was borrowing the part off of a neighbors car to see if it worked and it did. When i go to buy one, what do i ask for? A coil or pickup coil? ANy help would be greatly apreciared

 

The coil you are describing is teh ignition coil. Your car also has a pickup coil in the base of the distrributor that works in conjunction with the reluctor to create a small electrical impulse to trigger the HEI module (next to the pickup coil) to operate the ignition coil.

There is a fairly reasonable explanation of the system in most manuals and at the AC/Delco site:

http://www.weekendmechanicsclub.com/ACDelco/vobeng5.htm