Looks like I found the culprit that destroyed my car! I did some checking online and there have been others that have had their MSD coil overheat and fail.
But like this?

Any of you folks had this experience or one like it? The fire started in this area and the biggest heat damage to the hood was DIRECTLY above the coil...

 

looks to be mounted on a custom made bracket...attached to the intake manifold? I see what appears to be a ground wire coming from one bolt but it isn't a very heavy wire...I would think this could have contributed to a heat problem. anyone else have any thoughts?

 

I'm with ya on that AM91, that definitely looks fabbed up. That ground wire is a definite possibility as to why it got so hot.

Was the coil mounted there and wired up like that when you bought it?

 

That coil appears to be over the valve cover. Which is a lot cooler then the stock location over the exhaust manifold.

Coils don't require grounding.

RBob.

 

Thanks for that RBob- I have never heard of a coil needing grounding... they ground through the distributor(!). I have found a number of references online to these coils catching fire. If I had had a $20 fire extinguisher I would still have a car today...

 

That sucks man. :/ Having looked over the pics again, I change my vote to rebuild.

Is that the Street Fire, or...?

 

That’s an epoxy filled coil, which are prone to failure as epoxy holds in heat.

The can coil is a superior design as they oil inside keeps them cool for top performance and long life. [Just like the transformers on telephone poles]

These are the only 4 can coils you should use though.

NAPA IC12 NOT IC12SB
Black CarQuest 26189
Black MSD 8200 Blaster II
Chrome Summit G5215

 

just wondering if you have decided to rebulid it or not and what the progress is